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STORIES OF THE STATES 

MAKERS 

OF 

YIRGINIA HISTORY 



BY 



J. A. C. CHANDLER, Ph.D. 

PROFESSOR OF EKGLISH IN RICHMOND COLLEGE 
AND DEAN OF THE RICHMOND ACADEMY 



WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS 




SILVER, BURDETT AND COMPANY 

NEW YORK ATLANTA BOSTON DALLAS CHICAGO 



J -) 3 s ' = ^ S „ 



:> I J 
) ) :i ) 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 
APR 19 1904 
Gdoyright Entry 



at 

CL^SS C^ XXc. No. 



COPY Bf 



-> 



-^ 



CA-^ 



COPTRIGHT, 1904, BY 

SILVER, BURDETT i^ND COMPANY 




GRAYSON 



J^lLde^end'enoe '. -p *-%•■ Stuart\l ,?/ Manvjff^ i 



M9 I 



PREFACE. 

Virginia has been called the '^ Mother of States and 
of Statesmen " — a compliment justly due the " Old 
Dominion." In this little book an effort has been 
made to give biographical sketches of some of those 
great leaders who have placed Virginia in the forefront 
of American states. One great difficulty, however, has 
presented itself to the author in preparing these sketches : 
the impossibility of treating the many great men whom 
our state has produced. When we consider, in ad- 
dition to those who are treated here, such names as 
Morgan the Thunderbolt, Wythe, Giles, the Barbours, 
Gary, Garrington, the many Lees, Doddridge, Baldwin, 
Tazewell, Taylor, the Masons, Stewart, Leigh, Grayson 
and scores of others, there seems to be no end to 
Virginia's distinguished sons. Each locality in the state 
undoubtedly has some citizen who can truly rank as 
a maker of Virginia history, though his name is not men- 
tioned in this book. Our purpose, therefore, has been 
to select only a few characters in the different periods 
of our history, and to narrate the chief events in their 
lives in such a way as to give the story of Virginia 
history from 1607 to the present day. We believe 
that the best way to teach V.rginia history is by holding 
up before the boys and girls the deeds of those men 
who have done so much in the making of our history, 



PREFACE. 



and at the same time to give them, on a whole, characters 
worthy of their imitation. Children should get from 
their school work laudable ambitions, and there is 
no better way to stimulate and inspire them than 
through the history of our great men. 
This book may be used in two ways : 

(1) As a history. It may be put into the hands of 
the pupils and taught in the same way as any history 
of Virginia that may be a purely chronological treat- 
ment. For this purpose review questions and geog- 
raphy study have been added to each chapter. 

(2) As a supplementary reader. Every school in 
Virginia should have a reader which deals entirely with 
Virginia history, and nothing will be found so profitable 
and interesting to children as a reading lesson about 
the men who have made our history. 

One result which the author earnestly hopes may be 
accomplished by this book is a deeper interest in the 
local history of the state. May evefy teacher in the 
state try to find out something about his or her lo- 
cality, and about the great men of that community. 
Let this information be taught to the children, and 
they will grow each day more patriotic. If a spirit of 
patriotism and of admiration for our great men is 
firmly imbedded in the youth of our land, then Vir- 
ginia will have a race of high-minded men in whose 
hands the future of our dear old Commonwealth -will 
ever be safe. 

J. A. C. Chandler. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER 






PAGE 


I. — John Smith, the Adventueer . . 11 


II. — JoHi^ Smith, '^the Foui^'dee of 


Virginia " . . . . . .18 


III. — Pocahontas . 






. 43 


IV. — Edwin Sandys 






. 55 


V. — Geoege Yeardley . 






. 67 


VI. — William Claiboene 






. 80 


VII. — William Beekeley 






. 90 


VIII.— Nathaniel Bacon . 






. 99 


IX.— James Blaie . 






. 110 


X. — Alexander Spotswood 






. 123 


XI. — William Byed, Je. 






. 135 


XII. — xiNDREW Lewis , . 






. 150 


XIII. — Patrick Henry 






. 165 


XIV. — George Washington 






. 179 


XV. — Thomas Nelson, Jr. 






. 198 


XVI. George Rogees Olaek 






. 207 


XVII. — Edmund Pendleton 






. 216 


XVIII. — Geoege Mason 






. 226 


XIX. — Thomas Jeffeeson . 






. 233 


XX. — James Madison 






. 247 


XXI. — James Moneoe 






. 256 



D , CONTENTS. 








CHAPTER PAGE 


XXII.— JoHK Marshall 267 


XXIII. — JoHN^ Eandolph 






. 276 


XXIV. JoHK Tyler . 






. 285 


XXV. Henry A. Wise . 






. 295 


XXVI.— Matthew F. Maury 






. 305 


XXVII. — Thomas J. Jackson 






. 314 


XXVIII.— Egbert E. Lee 






. 325 


XXIX. — William H. Euffner . 






. 339 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. 



PAGE 

Map of Virginia. Colored. 

Frontispiece. 
The Washington Monu- 
ment at Richmond, Vir- 
ginia lo 

Captain John Smith ... 12 
John Smith's Combat with 

Grualgo 14 

John Smith's Coat of Arms 15 
Sir Walter Raleigh ... 18 
The Virgin Queen ... 19 
The Stone markingthe Site 

of Old Fort Raleigh . . 21 
Map showing Roanoke ^ 

Island 22 

King James I 23 

The Landing of Settlers at 

Jamestown 25 

Ruins of the Old Church 

Tower at Jamestown . 27 
Captain Smith Rescued by 

Pocahontas 31 

The Crowning of Pow- 
hatan 36 

John Smith's Pistol ... 39 
The Indian Maiden, Poca- 
hontas 43 

An Indian in Summer 
Dress ....... 44 

An Indian F'arnily at Home 45 



of 



PAGE 
50 



Lady Pocahontas 

Queen Anne, Wife 
James I . . . . 

The Supposed Grave of 
Powhatan . . 

Sir Edwin Sandys . 

The Autograph of Sir 
Edwin Sandys . . 

Lord Delaware . 

A View of Dutch Gap 

Sir Thomas Smythe 

Sir Thomas Smythe's 
Autograph . . . 

Earl of Southampton 

Nicholas Ferrar . . 

A Virginia Tobacco Field 
of To-day 

A Stove Used in the House 
of Burgesses Early in the 
Eighteenth Century . . 

Charles I 76 

Excavations in the James- 
town Church, Showing 
the Supposed Tomb of 
Yeardley 78 

William Claiborne ... 80 

The First Lord Baltimore . 81 

Map of the Disputed Ter- 
ritory 84 

Charles II .86 



52 

53 
55 

55 

57 

59 
62 

62 
63 

64 

68 



73 



8 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. 



Claiborne's Autograph . . 88 
The Old Church at Smith- 
field 91 

Roundhead and Cavalier . 93 
Ruins at "Green Springs" 94 
Berkeley's Signature to a 

Document 96 

An Overseer's House . . loi 
Bacon's Autograph . . . 103 
Bacon Demanding His 

Commission 104 

Lord Culpeper , . . .111 
Bruton-Parish Church . .113 
A View of the College of 

William and Mary . .119 
Sir Christopher Wren . . 121 
Alexander Spotswood . . 123 
The Autograph of Spots- 
wood 127 

Governor Spotswood and 
the Knights of the Golden 
Horseshoe Crossing the 

Blue Ridge 129 

The Old Capitol at Wil- 
liamsburg 132 

A Colonial Chair .... 135 
A Plate of the Period . .136 

King Carter 138 

Evelyn Byrd 140 

Colonel William Byrd, Jr. 141 
The Coat of Arms of Col- 
onel Byrd 144 

The Tomb of William 

Byrd 148 

ASettler's Hut in the Shen- 
andoah Valley .... 151 
Statue of Lewis .... 155 



PAGE 

An Indian Tomahawk . . 157 
Lord Dunmore .... 159 
Lewis's Grave at Salem . 163 
Patrick Henry .... 166 
Patrick Henry's Autograph 166 
The Courthouse at Han- 
over, Virginia . . ' . . 169 
St. John's Church at Rich- 
mond, Virginia . . . 171 
The Old Powder House at 



Williamsburg 



Red Hill, the Home 

Patrick Henry . 
The Mother of Georg-e 

Washington . . . 
Map of the English Col 

onial Territory in 1750 
George Washington as a 



Young Man 



at 



Washington's Home 
Mount Vernon . . 
Martha Washington 
George Washington 
The Raleigh Tavern 
Federal Hall, New York 
Thomas Nelson, Jr. . . 
Lucy Grimes Nelson 
Blandford Church, a 
Petersburg, Virginia . 

Lafayette 

Lafayette's Autograph . 
General Nelson's Home a 

Yorktown .... 
George Rogers Clark . 
Map Showing Boone's 
Trail (1775) and Clark's 
Campaign (1778-79) . . 



174 
176 
179 
181 

183 

186 
189 
189 
191 

195 
198 

199 

202 
203 
203 

205 

207 



211 



ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. 



9 



Map of the Old Northwest 214 
Edmund Pendleton . . . 216 
A Virginia Colonial Home 218 
Henry, Washington, and 
Pendleton Going to the 
First Congress .... 223 
George Mason .... 226 
The State Seal of Virginia 229 
Thomas Jefferson . . . 233 
" The Pines," where Jef- 
ferson was Married , . 235 
Signing the Declaration of 

Independence .... 238 
Monticello, Jefferson's 

Home 239 

The Autograph of Jeffer- 
son 241 

The University of Virginia 243 
The Statue of Jefferson at 

Richmond, Virginia . . 245 
James Madison .... 247 
The Autograph of Madison 249 
Madison's Home at Mont- 

pelier 250 

The University of Virginia, 

as it Looks To-day . . 253 
James Monroe .... 256 
Monroe's Autograph . . 256 
Mrs. James Monroe . . . 257 
The Virginia Constitu- 
tional Convention of 1788 261 
Monroe's Tomb in Holly- 
wood Cemetery . . . 264 

John Marshall 267 

The Rattlesnake Flag . . 268 



PAGE 

The Residence of Marshall 

at Richmond .... 273 
John Randolph .... 276 
Roanoke, the Home of 
John Randolph . . '. 279 

Henry Clay 282 

Greenway, Tyler's Birth- 
place 285 

John Tyler ..!... 291 
Sherwood Forest . . . 293 
Henry A. Wise .... 295 
Washington and Lee Uni- 
versity 298 

A View of Harper's Ferry 302 
Matthew F. Maury . . . 307 
The Grave of Maury . .311 
"Stonewall" Jackson . . 314 
The Virginia Military In- 
stitute 317 

Map of Jackson's Cam- 
paign in the Valley of 

Virginia 321 

Statue of "Stonewall'' 

Jackson 323 

" Light-Horse Harry " Lee 325 
The Arlington Home . . 327 
Joseph E. Johnston . . . 330 
The McLean House . . 233 

Lee's Study 336 

The Lee Statue at Rich- 
mond 337 

A Deserted Plantation af- 
ter the War .... 340 
Stripping the Tobacco Leaf 342 
Dr. Williams Ruffner . . 344 



MAKERS OF VIRGmiA HISTORY 

; CHAPTER I. 

JOHN SMITH. 

1579-1631. 

j 1. The Adventurer. 

! Virginia was the first permanent English colony to 

I be planted in America. Its establishment was fraught 

I with difficulty and trials, and it was twenty-seven years 

I from the first undertaking till a colony was founded at 

Jamestown. The success of the Jamestown settlement 

was due to Captain John Smith, who, on account of his 

roving disposition, was called an adventurer. 

John Smith was born in 1579 in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
land. His parents, who were of a good English family 
and of some means, died when Smith was about thirteen 
i years of age. Just before the death of his father. Smith 
was so anxious for adventure, that he sold his '^satchel, 
books and all that he had, intending secretly to go 
to sea.'' His guardian, fearing his foolhardy spirit, 
bound him as an apprentice to a merchant. He soon 



12 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



left his master and wandered into France, Holland and 
Belgium, then into Scotland; but finally he returned 
to his native Lincolnshire, where he lived the life of a 
hermit and spent his time in riding and shooting. 
At length, persuaded by a friend to give up his lonely 

life, he again crossed to the 
continent and visited Holland, 
France, Spain, Italy and Ger- 
many, in search of adventure. 
On his way to France he fell 
into the hands of some rob- 
bers, who took from him all 
his money and clothes. A 
few days afterwards. Smith 
killed one of these robbers in 
a hand-to-hand encounter. 
After wandering through France, he set out for Italy. 
Hardly had the ship put to sea when a terrible storm 
came up. On board the ship were some pilgrims on 
their way to visit the holy shrines at Rome. These 
superstitious persons believed that Smith was a hereti- 
cal Enghsh pirate and that they would perish at sea if 
he remained with them, so they threw him overboard; 
but Smith was a good swimmer and reached a little 
island which was not far away. After many adven- 
tures in Italy, Smith determined to go to fight the Turks. 




CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. 



JOHN SMITH. 13 

More than a hundred years before, the Turks had 
crossed from Asia into Europe, had conquered Con- 
stantinople, and at this time were pushing west into 
Germany and Austria; the Germans, meanwhile, fight- 
ing to keep them back from Vienna. Smith, there- 
fore, proceeded to Germany and joined Prince Sigis- 
mund in the struggle against the Turks. He proved a 
good soldier, and for the aid he rendered to the Germans, 
he was soon made a captain in the army. 

During the war the Germans besieged a town called 
Regal. To furnish amusement to both armies, a 
Turkish champion challenged any officer among the 
Christian forces to fight a single combat with him ''for 
his head." So many of the Christian captains were 
ready to accept, that a lo^had to be cast to decide who 
should represent the Germans. The choice fell upon 
Smith. When he went out to mee' his opponent, the 
ladies of the garrison gathered upon th ramparts to see 
the contest. The Turkish challenger entered the list 
well mounted and armed, and ''on his shoulders were 
j fixed a pair of wings compacted of eagles' feathers in 
a ridge of silver richly garnished with gold and precious 
stones.'' When the sound was given for the charge, 
Smith rode forth furiously. His lance was so well di- 
rected that he pierced the Turk through the beaver 
which protected his head, the spear point entering his 



14 



MAKEES OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



HisComSat wttkGRVALGO CaptofThrejefimdrcdHorjcmcJi. 




Fio?ii an old iwint. 



brain. The Turk fell to the ground, mortally wounded, 
whereupon Smith alighted, cut off the head of his an- 
tagonist and returned to his troops unhurt. At once 
another Turkish soldier challenged Smith to combat, 
and again Smith was victorious. Then Smith sent a 
challenge to the Turks, saying that for further '' amuse- 
ment of the ladies'^ he would combat with any Turkish 
warrior. This challenge was accepted by a gigantic 
Turk, named Grualgo, with the understanding that the 
weapons to be used should be pistols and battle axes. 
As the contestants rode to the fray, they fired their 
pistols and rushed upon each other with their battle 
axes. At a terrible blow from the Turk, Smith lost his 



JOHN SMITH. 



15 



battle axe and came near falling from his horse. The 
Turk gave a cry of joy thinking that he had won; but 
Smith quickly drew his sword, pierced the Turk through 
his back and body, and cut off his head. Thus in three 
single combats, Smith overcame three noted Turkish 
champions, and proved the truth of his motto, '^ to 
conquer is to live." Prince Sigismund, delighted with 
Smith's prowess, promised him a yearly reward of three 
hundred ducats ($700), and allowed him to emblazon 
upon his coat-of-arms three Turks' heads. 

Soon after this 
Smith was taken pris- 
oner by the Turks, 
and sold as a slave. 
He fell into the hands 
of a Turkish lady of 
rank, who became 
greatly attached to 
her slave. Fearing 
that harm might be- 
fall Smith from one 
of her suitors, she sent 
him to her brother 
who lived in Tartary, with the request that Smith should 
be kindly cared for. But this Turkish nobleman treated 
Smith cruelly. Smith's hair and beard were shaven off 




JOHN SMITH S COAT OF ARMS. 



16 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

and an iron collar was riveted about his neck. One day- 
he was sent to thresh wheat for his master. The Turkish 
nobleman, according to his wont, visited the barn and 
for no cause gave Smith a severe beating. Smith was so 
enraged that he beat out the Turk's brains with the 
threshing stick. Dressing himself in the clothes of the 
Turk, he mounted his master's horse and rode for the 
Russian frontier, which he reached in sixteen days. Here 
he was kindly received and in a short while he started 
back to his native land. On his way he stopped to see 
his friend, Prince Sigismund, who gave him fifteen hun- 
dred ducats ($3,500) of gold to replace his loss in the 
services of Germany. 

After traveling in northern Africa and meeting with 
other adventures, he returned to England in 1604. At 
this time all England was filled with talk of Virginia, 
and many Englishmen were anxious to form a settle- 
ment in that land. Smith, ever ready for new under- 
takings, offered his services to help plant England's flag 
on the shores of America. 

Review Questions. 

Why was Smith called an adventurer ? Tell of Smith's 
boyhood. What experience did he have with robbers in 
France ? Tell of how he was thrown overboard into the 
Mediterranean. Why were the Germans fighting the Turks ? 
Tell of Smith's encounter with three Turks. Tell of his life as 



JOHN SMITH. 17 

a slave in Tartary. How did he get back to England ? What 
did he hear about in England ? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Europe. — Find England, Scotland, Holland, Bel- 
gium, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria and Turkey. 
Locate Constantinople, London, Rome and Vienna. Map of 
Asia. — Find Tartary. 



CHAPTER II. 
JOHN SMITH. 

2. ''The Founder of Virginia/' 

When Smith was a boy, he had heard of Virginia, 
that wonderful country across the Atlantic, where the 
English had tried to make a settlement under the direc- 
tion of Sir Walter Ealeigh. Before learning of Smith's j 
adventures in Virginia, you should likewise know of 

Raleigh's attempt to colonize 
America. 

In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh, | 
a distinguished courtier and I 
scholar, received from Queen 
Elizabeth a charter allowing i 
him to send settlers to Vir- 
ginia. Before sending over a 
colony, Captain Philip Amidas 
and Captain Arthur Barlow 
were dispatched with two ships to explore the 
country. 

Amidas and Barlow landed on the coast of the Caro- 
linas on the fourth day of July, 1585, and were greatly 




SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 



JOHN SMITH, 



19 



impressed with the fertihty of the soil and its products. 

Here they found the melon in its full fruitage, beautiful 

flowers, and vast forests where roamed the deer and 

bear, and where birds of 

beautiful plumage sang 

with melodious song. 

From the Indians they 

heard stories of the 

great mountains to the 

west filled with gold 

and precious jewels. 

For the first time, they 

saw and learned the use 

of turkeys, potatoes and 

tobacco. They carried 

back to England some 

of these products, and 

spread abroad the news of the ^^good land,'' which the 

Virgin Queen Elizabeth named in honor of herself, 

'^ Virginia." At that time, Virginia was a vast region 

described as follows: '^The bounds thereof on the east 

side are the ocean; on the south lieth Florida; on the 

north Nova Francia (New France); as for the west 

thereof, the limits are unknown.'' But the English 

always held that Virginia ran to the South Sea or 

Pacific Ocean, which then was thought to be only a 




THE VIRGIN QUEEN. 



20 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. i 

few hundred miles west of the Atlantic. Thus Virginia 
in its beginning was practically all the present United 
States. 

Raleigh determined to send settlers at once to Vir- 
ginia, and he experienced no trouble in securing them 
because of the reports of the wonderful country which 
contained marvelous wealth. In 1585, Ralph Lane, as 
governor, with one hundred colonists, landed at Roanoke 
Island just off the coast of North Carolina, and began 
the first English colony in the New World. The settle- 
ment suffered greatly from the Indians, who attempted 
to destroy it. When the settlers were on the point of per- 
ishing from starvation, they were surprised by a visit 
from the bold sea captain, Francis Drake, who took 
them back to England. Raleigh still felt that Virginia 
should be settled, and in 1587 sent over a second colony 
under John White as governor. White went directly to 
Roanoke Island where the colonists at once began to 
rebuild the houses that had been abandoned the year 
before. Among the colonists were Mr. Dare and his. 
wife, who was a daughter of Governor White. Shortly I 
after their arrival a little girl was born to them, and in 
honor of the country she was named Virginia Dare. She 
was the first English child born in America. 

Governor White soon returned to England for pro- 
visions, but he was detained in England on account 



JOHN SMITH. 



21 



of war with Spain. 
When, after two 
years' absence, he 
returned to Roanoke 
Island, not a man, 
woman or child could 
be found. In vain 
did he search for the 
colony. On a tree 
was written the word, 
" Croatan," which 
was supposed to mean 
an Indian village 
near by, but the 
neighboring Indians 
knew nothing of it 
I or of the colonists. 
In North Carolina 
to-day, there is a 
tribe of Indians 
known as the Croa- 
tans, and some think 
that they have in 
their veins the blood 
of Raleigh's colonists, 
because many of the 




THE STONE MARKING THE bITE OF OLD 
FORT RALEIGH. 



INSCRIPTION. 

On this site in July-August, 1585 (O. S.), 
colonists, sent out from England by Sir 
Walter Ealeigh, built a fort, called by them 
" The New Fort in Virginia." 

These colonists were the first settlers of 
the English race in America. They returned 
to England in July, 1586, with Sir Francis 
Drake. 

Near this place was born, on the 18th of 
August, 1587, Virginia Dare, the first child of 
English parents born in America — daughter 
of Ananias Dare and Eleanor White, his 
wife, members of another band of colonists, 
sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587. 

On Sunday, August 20, 1587, Virginia 
Dare was baptised. Manteo, the friendly 
chief of the Hatteras Indians, had been 
baptised on the Sunday preceding. These 
baptisms are the first known celebrations of 
a Christian sacrament in the territory of the 
thirteen original United States. 



Indians of this tribe have light 



22 



MAKEES OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



hair and blue eyes. But this is merely a guess. No 
one has ever discovered what became of the settlers, 

and to this day 
Raleigh's colony is 
spoken of as the 
" lost colony of 
Roanoke.'' 

Raleigh made no 
further attempts to 
colonize Virginia, but 
he always believed 
that England would 
occupy the vast re- 
gion between the St. 
Lawrence River and 
Florida and that 
some day in this fer- 
tile territory would be a great English nation. History 
has shown that Raleigh was a far-seeing man. 

For twenty years the colonization of Virginia was 
laid aside by the English. During this time Queen 
Ehzabeth died, and was succeeded by King James I. 
The king was learned in books, but without common 
sense or good judgment; however, when many merchants 
of his kingdom pressed him with regard to Virginia, 
he saw that if a successful settlement were made 




EOANOKE ISLAND, THE HOME OF 
THE "lost colony." 



JOHN SMITH. 



23 



there, it would greatly increase the power of England, 
and, may be, would add to his own wealth. Moreover, 
James was a man of true religious impulses and he was 
anxious that the savages should be converted to Christ- 
ianity. He consented to form two companies; one ' 
called the London Company, and the other the Plymouth 

I Company. To these 
companies he granted 
in 1606, a charter, by 

I which the London 

j Company was to be 
allowed to settle in 

isouthern Virginia, 

j somewhere between 

I the Cape Fear (N. C.) 

land Hudson (N. Y.) 

I rivers. The Plymouth 
Company was to be 
allowed to settle in 
northern Virginia be- 
tween what is now the northern boundary of Maine 
and the mouth of the Potomac River. Both of these 

] companies were trading enterprises, and hoped to find 
in the New World gold and silver in great quantities, 
and to acquire much wealth by trading with the 
Indians. 




KING JAMES I. 



24 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

The London Company determined to plant a colony 
at once. The chief leaders in the enterprise were 
Bartholomew Gosnold, a sea captain of great courage 
and bravery; Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, 
two English gentlemen of piety; Robert Hunt, an 
English clergyman; Edward Maria AVingfield, a promi- 
nent London merchant, and Captain Smith. The latter 
has been called the ''soul of the enterprise and the 
founder of Virginia.'' 

In December, 1606, three small vessels, Susan Con- 
stant, Discovery and Godspeed, sailed down the Thames 
on their way to Virginia. There were on board, be- 
sides the ship's crew, one hundred and five settlers, 
of whom fifty-four were classed as gentlemen, being 
men unused to hard work. Only twelve were classed 
as laborers, the others being goldsmiths, carpenters, 
perfumers, barbers, masons, tailors, etc. Among the 
gentlemen were Edward Maria Wingfield, Captain 
Bartholomew Gosnold, Mr. George Percy, brother of the 
Earl of Northumberland, Robert Hunt, the clergyman, 
and Captain John Smith. Hardly had they put to sea 
before Wingfield charged that Smith intended to ' ' usurp 
the government, murder the council and make himself 
king,'' and caused Smith to be arrested and carried a 
prisoner to Virginia. 

On the 26th of April, 1607, the ships came into the 



JOHN SMITH. 



25 



mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. The capes through 
which they passed were called Cape Henry and Cape 
Charles, in honor of the Princes Henry and Charles, the 
sons of James I. Into the bay flowed a broad river, 
which was named James, in honor of the king. The 




Fw)n the paifili/ig by CJtapiium. 

THE LANDING OF SETTLERS AT JAMESTOWN. 

settlers went up the river and on the thirteenth day of 
May, 1607, landed on a peninsula, which is now an 
island, on the north side of the river, and there began 
the settlement of Jamestown. This was the real be- 
ginning of the English colonies in America. 
When the settlers started on their voyage to Virginia, 



26 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

King James did not indicate who should compose the 
council to govern the colony, but gave written in- 
structions which were placed in a sealed box, not to be 
opened until Virginia was reached. After entering the 
Chesapeake Bay, the colonists opened the box, and 
it was found out that Christopher Newport, Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold, Edward Maria Wingfield, John Smith, 
John Rat cliff e, John Martin and George Kendal were 
the members of the council. According to the instruc- 
tions, the council proceeded to elect one of their number 
as president, and the choice fell upon Wingfield. 

At first Smith was not allowed to become a member 
of the council because he was still under arrest. On his 
demand, he was granted a trial, at which he proved that 
he was not guilty of the charges made by Wingfield, and 
he was, therefore, acquitted. Kendal, who acted as 
prosecutor, was condemned to pay Smith two hundred 
pounds ($1,000) damages, which the captain generously 
presented to the colony. Smith and his prosecutors 
then partook of the holy communion, and Smith was 
permitted to take a seat in the council. 

The May weather was pleasant and everything 
seemed to indicate a prosperous beginning. At once 
the settlers began to build houses. While waiting for 
the erection of a church, an old sail was stretched be- 
tween some trees for a place of worship, and here the 



JOHN SMITH. 



27 



Rev. Mr. Hunt preached twice every Sunday and read 
the services daily. It is an interesting fact that of this 
settlement, which began with religious services, noth- 
ing now stands except an old church tower surrounded 
by some tombstones which are fast crumbling to dust. 
The old church tower 
I now to be seen at 
Jamestown was the 
ipart of a church built 
jsoon after the settle- 
jmenthad been made. 

I Hardly had work 
I 

[begun before sum- 
mer was at hand, 
land a terrible fever 
{broke out among the 
{colonists. In telling 
of the suffering of the 
settlers, George 
Percy wrote : ' 'Burn- 
ing fevers destroyed them. Some departed suddenly, 
but for the most part, they died of famine. There 
^ere never Englishmen left in a foreign land in such 
misery as we were in this new discovered Virginia. It 
Was indeed a pitiful thing to hear the groaning of the 
starving and dying.'' In a few months, more than half 




RUINS OF THE OLD CHURCH TOWER 
AT JAMESTOWN. 



28 MAKERS OF VIKGINIA HISTORY. 

of the settlers were dead and among them was Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold. AVingfield and Kendal, anxious to escape 
the ravages of the fever, tried to seize the little boat 
which belonged to the colonists and to sail back to Eng- 
land. Their design was discovered, and they were at 
once deposed from the council. Ratcliffe was then 
elected president of the council in place of Wingfield, 
but the colonists were as distrustful of him as they had 
been of Wingfield. 

The colony was now greatly in need of food, and so 
many were ill with fever that it seemed that all would 
perish. Smith now came to the rescue. He acted with 
promptness and energy. Going at once to a village 
near what is now Hampton, he demanded corn of the 
Indians. When they refused his request, he fired upon 
them, and captured their god, Okee, which they carried 
to battle with them. The loss of their god caused the 
Indians to yield at once to Smith's demand, and they 
gave him all the corn that he needed. With this he 
returned to Jamestown in time to save the colony from 
starvation, and also to prevent Wingfield and Kendal 
in their second attempt to seize the pinnace. 

The colony being well provisioned with the supplies 
secured from the Indians, Smith now moved up the 
James River and entered the Chickahominy, looking for 
a route to the Pacific Ocean, which, according to the 



JOHN SMITH. 29 

belief of those times, lay but a short way from the 
Atlantic. About the last of May, Smith and some others 
had gone up the James River as far as the falls where 
Richmond now stands. Knowing that he could make 
no further progress in his boat up the James, he deter- 
mined to explore the Chickahominy. In the swamps 
of this stream, he lost his companions and was captured 
by the Indians, who took him to Opechancanough, the 
chief of the Pamunkey tribe. 

Smith had with him a circular compass of ivory with 
a dial face under glass on either side. He presented 
this to the chief, who stood in amazement at the move- 
ment of the needle and at the glass which permitted 
him to see the needle without touching it. At once 
Smith saw his opportunity for making the Indians 
stand in awe of him, and by this means he hoped to save 
his life. He therefore talked to Opechancanough about 
the roundness of the earth, the courses of the sun and 
moon, and the use of the compass. The Indians, how- 
ever, fastened Smith to a tree and were about to shoot 
j him to death with arrows, when suddenly the old chief 
held up the compass, whereupon all the warriors laid 
down their arms and untied Smith. At last he was 
taken by order of Opechancanough to the latter's 
brother, who ruled over the Powhatans, a tribe of In- 
dians living along the James and York rivers. Their 



30 MAKEBS OF VIRGINIA HISTOHY. 

ruler was called after the name of the tribe, Pow- 
hatan. 

The Powhatan who was ruling at the time that the 
English settled in America is described as a sour-looking 
man, but tall and well built. His hair was gray and his 
beard was so thin that it seemed none at all. Although 
about sixty years old, he was still able to endure much 
hardship. About his person a guard of forty or fifty 
of the tallest men of his country was in constant at- 
tendance. 

To this Powhatan, who was residing at Werowocomoco 
(Gloucester county) on York River, Smith was sent by 
Opechancanough. When Smith was ushered into the 
presence of the brawny emperor of the woods, he beheld 
him seated before a fire in his royal robe of raccoon skins, 
and surrounded by two hundred of his braves. On either 
side of the Indian chief sat a young woman of sixteen 
or eighteen years, and behind them were many women 
with their heads and shoulders painted red, and their 
necks bedecked with great chains of white beads. As 
Smith entered, all the people gave a great shout. The 
Queen of the Appomattox was appointed to bring him 
water to wash his hands, and another woman brought 
him a bunch of feathers for a towel. Then the Indians 
feasted him on turkey, after which Powhatan and his 
warriors held a meeting to decide what should be done 



JOHN SMITH. 



31 



to the Englishman. The conclusion was reached that 
the white man should be put to death. 

While the Indians were consulting, an Indian maiden 
twelve years old stood looking on. She was the favorite 
daughter of Powhatan and she was called Pocahontas, 
which means "bright stream between two hills.^^ She 
w^as filled with pity for Smith, and was greatly concerned 




Yom an old engraving. 

CAPTAIN SMITH RESCUED BY POCAHONTAS. 



jwhen the Indians brought out two large stones and laid 
Smith's head upon them. Just as the Indians were 

labout to beat out his brains, she ran up, threw herself 
jupon Smith, seized his head in her arms and laid her 



32 MAKERS OP VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

head upon his. She thereupon begged her father not to 
kill Smith. After much entreaty, the old chief consented 
to spare Smith's life, and ordered him to make bells 
and beads for his daughter. Thus, in an unexpected 
way, God saved the life of Smith and the first colony 
of Virginia. 

After two days, Powhatan asked Smith to return to 
Jamestown, and send him two guns and a grindstone. 
With professions of great friendship, Powhatan fur- 
nished Smith twelve guides to conduct him back to the 
settlement. They spent the night in the woods, where 
Smith feared that he would be put to death. The next 
morning they reached Jamestown, and the colonists 
received Smith with great joy and treated the savages 
with kindness. Smith showed the Indians two cannon 
and some grindstones, which he told them to take to 
their chief. He caused the cannon to be fired into the 
trees, and down came the boughs and icicles. The 
Indians ran away in fear, but Smith finally persuaded 
them to return and get the presents and the grindstones 
which he was sending to Powhatan. 

Smith reached the colony at a time when his services 
were greatly needed. The people, reduced to forty, 
were on the point of starvation, and Ratcliffe, who was 
then president, was a poor leader. Pocahontas with 
her attendants came every four or five days, bringing 



JOHN SMITH. 33 

Smith provisions of venison, turkey and corn. ''Her 
kindness/' said Smith, ''saved many of the Hves that 
for all else had starved with hunger.'' The people 
blessed Pocahontas and loved her for her kindness, 
but the president and the council began to envy Smith 
because Powhatan sent him so many presents, and 
because Pocahontas brought him so many things to eat. 

Smith was regarded by the Indians as one who could 
foretell what would happen. His knowledge of the 
stars and of the use of the compass had made them 
believe that he was more than human, and consequently 
he could do almost anything with them. But when 
Captain Newport, arriving shortly after this, called 
upon Powhatan, and attempted to trade with him, the 
crafty old Indian chief ^said: "Captain Newport, it 
is not agreeable to my greatness in a trifling manner to 
trade with trifles. Therefore, lay down all your com- 
modities and what I like, I will take, and give you what 
I think fitting their value." Newport did as Powhatan 
desired and to his surprise, the Indian took all of his 
trinkets and gave him four bushels of corn, instead of 
twenty hogsheads, which quantity Newport had ex- 
pected. 

On another occasion Powhatan sent Newport twenty 
turkeys and asked for twenty swords in return, and 
Newport actually complied with the request. With 



34 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Smith, Powhatan had more difficulty. For twenty 
turkeys which he sent Smith, he did not receive a single 
sword. He thereupon became angry and planned to 
destroy Jamestown, but Smith, by his watchfulness dis- 
covered the plot, and by his firm and stern treatment of 
the Indians prevented them from succeeding. All the 
while Pocahontas was befriending the English and doing 
many kindnesses to Smith. 

Shortly after this, Smith went upon an expedition to 
explore the Chesapeake Bay. He entered the Potomac 
and Rappahannock rivers and sailed along the eastern 
shore. The accurate map which Smith made of his voy- 
age shows that he was a wonderful navigator. When he 
returned to Jamestown in September, 1608, he again 
found the colonists in a frightful condition. Many had 
died, others were sick, and all the provisions in the store- 
house had been ruined by rain. Ratcliffe, the president, 
had been arrested for mutiny. With these conditions 
existing, the council and people forced Smith to become 
president of the colony. 

Smith put the colonists immediately to work. The 
palace that Ratcliffe had begun for himself was torn 
down, the church and fort were repaired, a roof was put 
on the storehouse to prevent any further damage to the 
provisions, and the people were drilled so that they 
might be prepared for an attack from the Indians. 



/ JOHN SMITH. 85 

While these things were going on, Newport arrived 
from England with supplies. Among other presents he 
brought a crown and a robe for Powhatan. King James 
had given instructions that Powhatan should be crowned 
a king after royal fashion. 

Captain Smith was sent to Werowocomoco to tell 
Powhatan of his presents, and to invite him to James- 
town to be crowned. The Indian chief was not at home 
when Smith and his companions arrived; so he was sent 
for, and, in the mean time, Pocahontas and her women 
entertained the Englishmen. Smith and his compan- 
ions were seated in an open field before a fire when they 
heard a great noise and shrieking. They seized their 
arms, thinking that Powhatan had treacherously planned 
to surprise them, but presently Pocahontas came and 
assured Smith that no harm was meant, and that she 
would suffer death herself before any hurt should befall 
him. Then came thirty young women from the woods, 
their bodies painted with many colors, but each one in a 
different fashion. Pocahontas, their leader, had a pair 
of buck's horns on her head, an otter's skin at her girdle, 
and a bow and arrow in her hand. The Indian maidens 
rushed from the woods with great shouts, and forming 
a ring around Smith and his companions, they executed 
a peculiar dance. 

The next day Powhatan arrived. He received the 



36 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



message from Newport, after which, drawing himself up 
Hke a great monarch, he said : "If your king has sent me 
presents, I also am a king and this is my land. Eight 
days I will stay to receive them. Your father is to 




THE CROWNING OF POWHATAN. 



come to me, not I to him." Thus Powhatan refused to 
go to Jamestown to be crowned, and Captain Newport, 
therefore, came to Powhatan's home on York River with 
the presents from King James. After much persuasion 
old Powhatan put on the scarlet robe, but when he was 
ordered to kneel to receive the crown, he positively re- 



JOHN SMITH. 37 

fused to bend his knee. '^At last, by leaning hard on 
his shoulders, he a little stooped, and Newport put the 
crown on his head.'' The English then fired a salute in 
honor of Powhatan, the King, who started up with great 
fear until he saw that no harm was meant. 

Smith had much trouble with the settlers because they 
would not work. Newport had been told in England to 
get a lump of gold, and so the colony was looking for gold 
all the time and neglecting the crops. Therefore, the 
settlers were frequently in great want. Smith com- 
plained that there were too many gentlemen among the 
colonists. He had written a letter to the London Com- 
pany asking that they send over more laborers, but each 
new band of settlers contained chiefly gentlemen who 
were unwilling to work in the fields. 

During the winter of 1608-1609, the colony needed 
corn and other provisions which Smith determined to 
get from the Indians. As he was going down James 
River, he met with a friendly Indian who said to him: 
^'Captain Smith, you shall find Powhatan to use you 
kindly, but trust him not, and be sure he has no op- 
portunity to seize your arms, for he has sent for you only 
to cut your throat.'' With this warning Smith pro- 
ceeded to the home of Powhatan at Werowocomoco. 
The river was frozen, but he landed by breaking through 
the ice. When he asked Powhatan for corn, the old 



38 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

king pretended he did not have any to sell, and valued a 
basket of corn at more than he did a basket of copper. 
Finally, Powhatan told Smith that the English could 
get corn if they would come ashore unarmed, but, if 
they brought their arms, the Indians would be afraid 
and would not furnish the corn. Smith paid no atten- 
tion to this, but landed his men with their arms. Then 
Powhatan supplied the corn with which Smith loaded 
his boats. 

Powhatan was now very genial and pleasant and en- 
tertained the English with great hospitality. In the 
night Pocahontas came through the dark woods and 
told Captain Smith of Powhatan's plot. A great feast 
of many delicacies had been prepared, and while Smith 
and his companions were eating, the Indians would try 
to seize their weapons and kill them. She implored 
Smith and his men to leave. For her kindness, Smith 
offered her many presents, but she would receive none, 
and ran away with tears in her eyes. In an hour's 
time, eight or ten lusty Indians came with great platters 
of venison and other eatables. Fearing poisoned food, 
Smith made them taste every dish. He and his com- 
panions then enjoyed the feast, and though the Indians 
assembled in a great crowd, they did not dare attack the 
English, who had their guns by their sides. Thus, from 
one place to another Smith went among the Indians, 



JOHN SMITH. 



39 



who held him in great fear. On one occasion, he seized 
old Opechancanough by his hair and led him out in 
front of all his braves and placed a pistol at his 




JOHN SMITHS PISTOL. 

Now in possession of the Virginia Historical Society. 

breast. Of course, he got all the provisions that he 
wanted. 

By the middle of 1609, the colony contained about 
six plantations, or forts, along the James. Jamestown 
was the largest, and had about fifty or sixty houses. 
Among the plantations was West's settlement, near the 
present site of Richmond. In September, 1609, as 
Smith was returning to Jamestown from West's plan- 
tation, a bag of gunpowder exploded and severely 
wounded him in the hip. Smith was so crazed by the 
wound, that he jumped into the water and was res- 
cued by his companions with great difficulty. When he 
returned to Jamestown, he found a vessel on the point 
of starting for England. He at once put the govern- 
ment in the hands of George Percy, in order that he 
might go to London for medical treatment. The colony 
at the time contained some four hundred and ninety 



40 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

persons, and was more prosperous than it had been at 
any time since its estabhshment. 

Smith never again returned to Virginia, though he 
Uved twenty-two years longer. For five years he re- 
mained quietly in England, but in 1614 he made a voy- 
age to the coast of New England, and was thereafter 
known as '^Admiral of New England.'^ The last years 
of his life were spent in writing his History of Virginia, 
which was published in 1626. He never married. He 
died in London in 1631 and was buried in St. Sepulchre's 
Church. On his tomb is carved his shield with the three 
Turks' heads; and beneath is a long inscription in 
poetry of which the following is a part : 

" Here lieth one conquered that hatli conquered kings, 
Subdued large territories and done things 
Which, to the world, impossible would seem 
But that truth is held in more esteem. 

Oh, say may his soul in sweet Elysium sleep 
Until the keeper that all souls doth keep 
Return to judgment, and that after thence 
"With angels he shall have his recompense." 

Smith was undoubtedly a true and noble man, and 
the colony of Virginia would have prospered from the 
first had his advice been taken. But, unfortunately, 
the colonists had the fever for gold, and spent their time 
in searching for it, finding only some yellow dirt, which 



JOHN SMITH. 41 

they ignorantly took for the precious metal. If the time 
consumed in digging and looking for gold had been de- 
voted to building homes and cultivating the soil, there 
would never have been so much suffering in the colony. 
Smith pleaded with the colonists to work. He told them 
that they would acquire wealth neither by trading with 
the Indians nor by finding gold, but by producing such 
crops as they could ship to England and sell there. Truly 
he had the right idea of what would make a permanent 
and prosperous colony. 

Kevievr Questions. 

Tell of Raleigh's settlements in Virg-inia. Who was Vir- 
ginia Dare? Tell of the charter of the Plymouth and London 
companies. What men were instrumental in settling Vir- 
ginia? What ships started for Virginia in 1606? What was 
the character of the settlers? Who were the leading men? 
Where and when was the first settlement made? Tell of 
Smith's arrest and trial. Tell of the first church in Virginia. 
What only remains now at Jamestown ? Tell of the summer of 
1607. How did Smith get food in 1607? Tell of his trip up the 
Chickahominy. Tell of his experience Avith Opechancanough 
and the compass. Describe Powhatan. Tell of the way 
Smith was received by Powhatan. How did Pocahontas save 
him? Tell of the Indians' experiences with the cannon and 
the grindstones. Tell the difference between the way in 
which Smith and Newport traded with the Indians. What 
waters did Smith explore? Tell of Smith as president of the 
colony. Describe the entertainment which Pocahontas gave 
to Smith. Tell of the crowning of Powhatan. Describe 
Smith's experiences during the winter of 1608-1609. Why 
was Smith forced to return to England? Tell of his life after 



42 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

leaving Virginia, and of liis death. Write a composition on 
Smith. 

Geography Study. 

Map of the United States. — Find North Carolina, Florida 
and Virginia. Locate Roanoke Island. Map of Virginia. 
Find Cape Henry, Cape Charles, James River, Jamestown, 
Chickahominy River, Richmond, Pamunkey River, York 
River, Werowocomoco, Potomac River, Rappahannock River 
and Chesapeake Bay. 



CHAPTER 111 



POCAHONTAS, 

1595(?)-1617. 

In connection with the Ufe of Smith you have learned 
something of the Indian maiden Pocahontas. Her story 
is a most interesting one. 
She was far above her race 
in thought and feehng. 
She was not treacherous 
and cruel, but kind and 
gentle. Though a savage, 
she was a high-minded 
woman and deserved the 
title of '^Lady Rebecca/^ 
or the ^^Lady Pocahon- 
tas.'' You can not un- 
derstand how great a the INDIAN maiden, POCAHONTAS. 

woman she was, unless you know something of her 
people. 

The ancient inhabitants of Virginia were called In- 
dians because Columbus had given the natives of America 




44 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



that name. Virginia was not populous, and among the 
Indians were many more women and children than men. 
Within six miles of Jamestown were some five thousand 
natives divided into several tribes, the most important 

being the Monocans, the Pamun- 
keys and the Powhatans. 

The Indians were usually tall 
and straight and ' ' of a color brown 
when they were of age, but they 
were born white. Their hair was 
generally black but few had any 
beard. The men wore one-half of 
their beard shaven, the other half 
long. For barbers, they used their 
women, who with two shells grated 
away the hair in any fashion they 
pleased." The women were hard}' 
and could endure much cold and 
hunger. They worked the corn 
and raised the tobacco, while the warriors or braves 
would hunt and fish. 

The clothes of the Indians were made of the skins of 
wild animals; their finest garments were of deer skin, 
often embroidered with white beads. The poorer among 
the Indians made clothes of grass and of the leaves of 
trees, and sometimes they tied together turkey feathers 




AN INDIAN IN SUMMER 
DRESS. 



POCAHONTAS. 



45 



for clothing. They painted themselves in many colors, 
and both men and women wore long chains and bracelets 
in their ears. A certain charm was supposed to reside 
in the snake, so that often an Indian brave wore through 
holes in his ears, a small greenish yellow-colored snake 
nearly one-half yard in length, which would crawl and 
lap about his neck and kiss his lips. On their heads the 
Indians often had the wings of birds or some large 
feather with a rattle. 




AN INDIAN FAMILY AT HOME. 



The homes of the Indians were, for the most part, 
near rivers and not far from some fresh stream of water. 
Their houses, called wigwams, were built with the boughs 



46 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

of trees like our arbors and covered with mats or bark. 
Afound these wigwams there were often from twenty 
to two hundred acres of cleared land, for the production 
of Indian corn and tobacco. The chief food was fish, 
turkeys, squirrels and green corn; in winter the Indians 
grated their corn, of which they made hominy. They 
used the bow and the arrow and had boats called 
canoes, which were hollowed from large logs by burn- 
ing. Their religion consisted chiefly in the worship of 
fire, water, lightning and thunder and a god called 
Okee, whom they served more from fear than from 
love. 

In war the Indians were treacherous and cruel, and 
their great delight was to scalp their enemies. They 
avoided open warfare and would never forgive an injury. 
They were not trustworthy, being full of deceit; yet 
from such .a race sprang Pocahontas, a woman whose 
name will always be honored in Virginia. 

Pocahontas was true, gentle and noble. When she 
was a child about twelve years of age she saved Smith's 
life, and afterwards she time and again furnished the 
white settlers with provisions. On another occasion, 
as you will remember, when Smith was trying to get 
corn from Powhatan, Pocahontas came and informed 
Smith that the Indians were planning to kill him. To 
give Smith this warning was a brave deed, for had her 



POCAHONTAS. 47 

action been discovered by the Indians, she would un- 
doubtedly have been put to death. 

After Smith's departure from Jamestown, Pocahontas 
did not again visit the whites and they greatly missed 
her kindness to them. Old Powhatan seemed to fear 
that she might fall into the hands of the English ; there- 
fore he sent her for safety to a friendly chief, Japazaws, 
who lived on the Potomac River. In 1612, Captain 
Argall went into the Potomac country to trade with the 
Indians for corn, and while there, he learned that Poca- 
hontas was in that region. He thereupon gave a copper 
kettle to Japazaws to betray her into his hands. After 
much persuasion Pocahontas consented to go with 
Japazaws and his wife to the English boat to see how 
it was constructed. When she had got aboard, Argall 
informed her that she was his prisoner. Though she 
begged in tears for her release, Argall would not relent, 
but took her to Jamestown. 

ArgalFs purpose in making a prisoner of Pocahontas 
was to force Powhatan to release seven of the English 
whom he had held as prisoners and to secure greater 
supplies of corn for the liberation of his daughter. 
Powhatan released the prisoners, but as he did not send 
the corn, the English still retained Pocahontas at James- 
town. She was kindly treated, and was taught the 
Christian religion, and after a short time was baptized 



48 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

under the name Rebecca. While Pocahontas was being 
instructed in Christianity, Mr. John Rolfe, a widower, 
fell in love with her and after about a year won her con- 
sent to marry him. Many people have thought that she 
loved John Smith, as she asked about him so frequently, 
and it seemed that the good people of Jamestown de- 
ceived the girl by telling her that Smith was dead. 

The marriage was performed by the Rev. Mr. Whitaker 
at the Jamestown church, in April, 1613. At that time 
marriages were not frequent in Virginia, because, as yet, 
few women had come to the colony. The first marriage 
in the colony took place at Jamestown, in December, 
1608, when Anne Burras became the wife of John Laydon. 
That marriage had undoubtedly interested the people, 
but when Rolfe led Pocahontas to the altar as his bride, 
the whole colony felt concerned, because it meant the 
union of an English gentleman and an Indian Princess. 
From this marriage the settlers hoped for perpetual peace 
with the Indians. 

Powhatan was informed of the proposed marriage, 
and gave his consent, but he feared the whites, and would 
not go to Jamestown to witness the ceremony. He sent 
an uncle and two brothers of Pocahontas. Powhatan 
and the neighboring Indians made peace with the whites, 
which peace lasted till the death of Pocahontas, or the 
Lady Rebecca, as she was often called. It is said that Sir 



JPOCAHONTAS. 49 

Thomas Dale, who was then governor of Virginia, was 
so pleased with this marriage, that he sent a messenger 
to Powhatan asking for the hand of a younger sister of 
Pocahontas. Thus Dale wished to make stronger the 
bonds of peace and friendship between the whites and 
the Indians. To the messenger Powhatan said, "I 
gladly accept your salute of love and peace, which, while 
I live, I shall exactly keep. His (Dale's) pledge thereof 
I receive with no less love, although they are not so great 
as I have received before. As for my daughter, I have 
sold her within these last few days to a great chief, three 
days journey from me, for two bushels of rawrenoke." 
To this speech of the savage chief, the messenger replied : 
''I know your highness by returning the rawrenoke 
might call her back again to gratify your brother, Sir 
Thomas Dale, and the rather, because she is but twelve 
years old. Besides its forming a bond of peace, you 
shall have in return for her three times the value of the 
rawrenoke in beads, copper and hatchets. ' But 
Powhatan declined this tempting offer, saying: ''No, 
I love my daughter as my life ; and, though I have many 
children, I delight in none so much as her, and if I should 
not often see her, I could not possibly live; and, if she 
lived at Jamestown, I could not see her, having resolved 
on no terms to put myself into your hands or come 
among you. Therefore, I desire you to urge me no 



50 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



further. . . . From me he (Dale) has a pledge, one 
of my daughters, which so long as she lives shall be 
sufficient. When she dies, he shall have another. I 
hold it not a brotherly part to desire to bereave me of 
my two children at once. . . . This, I hope, will 
satisfy my brother. Now, since you are weary, and I 
sleepy, we will here end.'' 





From a paviting by Sully. 

LADY POCAHONTAS. 



In 1616, Rolfe visited England, taking with him the 
Lady Pocahontas. A news letter of the day said, ''Sir 
Thomas Dale has arrived from Virginia and brought 



POCAHONTAS. 51 

with him some ten or twelve old and young of that 
country, among whom is Pocahontas, a kind of 
cazique of that country, married to one Rolfe, an 
Englishman." Pocahontas had learned to speak En- 
glish well and her manner was that of a refined 
English lady. 

In England she met Captain Smith, and the story of 
their meeting is best told in Smith's own words : ' ' Being 
about this time preparing to sail for New England, I 
could not stay to do her that service I desired — but hear- 
ing that she was at Brentford — I went to see her. After 
a modest salutation, without a word she turned about 
and obscured her face, not seeming well contented — but 
not long afterwards, she began to talk — saying: ^You 
did promise Powhatan what was yours should be his, and 
I liked you. You called him father being in his land a 
stranger, and for the same reason so must I do you,' 
which, though I would have excused, I durst not allow 
that title because she was a king's daughter. With a 
well set countenance, she said: 'Were you not afraid 
to come into my father's country and caused fear in him 
' and all his people but me, and fear you here I should call 
I you father ? I tell you I will, and you shall call me 
child, and I will be for ever and ever your country 
\ woman. They did tell us always you were dead and I 
: knew no other till I came to Plymouth. Yet Powhatan 



52 



MAKEES OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



did command Uttomatomakkin* to seek you and to 
know the truth, because your countrymen will lie 
much.'' 

Smith at once wrote a letter to Queen Anne, the wife 
of James I., asking her to take an interest in the Lady 
Rebecca and in this letter for the first time he describes 

how she saved his 
life at the risk of 
her own. An old 
historian tells us : 
'^She was carried to 
Court by the Lady 
Delaware and en- 
tertained by ladies 
of the first quality 
towards whom she 
behaved herself with 
so much grace and 
majesty, that she 
confirmed the bright character Captain Smith had 
given of her. The whole court was charmed with 
the decency and grandeur of her deportment, so 

*This was one of the Indians, a brother-in-law of Pocahontas, who 
went to England with her. Powhatan instructed him to number the 
English. He got some sticks when he landed and began to cut a 
notch for every Englishman that he saw, but he soon gave up in 
despair as they were so many. 




QUEEN ANNE, WIFE of' JAMES I. 



POCAHONTAS. 



53 



much so that the poor gentleman, her husband, was 
threatened to be called to account for marrying a 
princess Royal without the king's consent." She went 
to many balls, plays and entertainments held in her 
honor. What a change from a savage in the wilderness 
of Virginia! 

In March, 1617, John Rolfe prepared to embark for 
Virginia, but his wife was suddenly taken ill and died 
















THE SUPPOSED GRAVE OF POWHATAN, FATHER OF POCAHONTAS. 

' at Gravesend, in the County of Kent. She was buried 
there in the chancel of the church. The old church was 
burned in 1727, and there remains no monument to 
her memory. Pocahontas left one son, Thomas Rolfe, 
who later returned to Virginia and became a planter. 
His only child, Jane, married Colonel Robert Boiling, 



54 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

from whom many of the prominent famihes of Virginia 
are descended. Among the descendants of Pocahontas 
was John Randolph of Roanoke. 

Pocahontas, though by birth a savage, readily acquired 
the culture and refinement of the English, for she was by 
nature a noble woman. Virginia should always honor 
her memory because, through her kindness and Smith's 
bravery, the colony was saved from destruction. The 
names of John Smith and Pocahontas are for this reason 
inseparably connected. 

Review Questions. 

Tell of the Indian tribes of Virginia. Describe the appear- 
ance and dress of an Indian. Tell of the homes and food of 
the Indians. What sort of people were they in disposition? 
Tell how Argall captured Pocahontas. How was Pocahontas 
treated at Jamestown? Tell of her baptism and marriage. 
Tell of Powhatan's reply to Dale when he asked for the 
younger daughter of Powhatan. Tell of the meeting of Smith 
and Pocahontas in England. How was Pocahontas received 
at court? Tell of her death. What do you know of her 
descendants? 

Geography Study. 

Map of England. — Find Plymouth, London, County of 
Kent and Gravesend. 



CHAPTER IV 
EDWIN SANDYS. 



1561-1629. 



Virginia did not 
prosper rapidly in its 
early days because 
the London Company 
was badly managed, 
and did not send the 
proper tools and sup- 
plies to the settlers. 
Smith, as you re- 
member, complained 
to the Company, and 
urged it to adopt a 
more liberal policy. 
No decided change, 
however, was made 
until Sir Edwin Sandys became treasurer of the Com- 
pany. But from Smith's departure from Virginia to 




66 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Sandys's election was a period of ten years, during 
which time the colony was, on a whole, governed in a 
despotic way, and was often on the verge of ruin. 

When Smith left Virginia in 1609, the government was 
placed in the hands of George Percy, who was unable to 
manage the colonists. The Indians at once began to 
destroy the outlying settlements, because there was no 
Smith to keep them in mortal fear. The supplies were 
either wasted or destroyed, and the settlers often had to 
live on roots and acorns and the skins of horses. It is even 
said that some ate the body of an Indian who had been 
killed in war, having first boiled it with roots and herbs. 
Another horrible story is told of a man who killed his 
wife and was discovered eating her body. For this crime 
he was burned to death. Out of more than four hundred 
and ninety men whom Smith had left in Virginia, in six 
months 'Hhere remained not past sixty men, women 
and children, most miserable and poor creatures.'' Just 
at this time (1610) Gates and Somers arrived. 

About six months before Smith returned to England, 
Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers had sailed 
from London to bring fresh supplies and additional 
settlers to Virginia. They were driven by a terrible 
storm, and their ship, the Sea Venture, was wrecked upon 
the Bermudas. Here they succeeded in constructing 
two small boats, Patience and Deliverance, in which 



EDWIN SANDYS, 



57 



they reached Virginia. Great was the joy of the starv- 
ing colonists, as the two vessels sailed up the James. 
When the new arrivals came ashore, the few remaining 
settlers crowded around them and begged that they 
might be taken back to England. Since there were no 
provisions upon which the colony could live, Gates and 
Somers agreed that 
Jamestown should be 
abandoned. Having 
buried all their arms and 
ammunition at the gate 
of the fort, the colonists 
went aboard the ships 
and set sail for England. 
It looked as if the Vir- 
ginia colony was doomed, 
but God had willed other- 
wise. Scarcely had the 
ships gotten out of 
sight of Jamestown, when they met a small boat 
which announced that Lord Delaware had come out 
from England to assume command of the Virginia colony, 
and that a new government would be established. At 
once Gates and Somers returned to Jamestown; and 
three days later (June 10, 1610), Lord Delaware arrived 
^ith three vessels. As he landed upon the shore, he 




LORD DELAWARE. 



58 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

knelt and offered silent prayer to God. He then sum- 
moned the people to the church, where the Rev. Mr. 
Bucke preached. By Lord Delaware's opportune ar- 
rival the colony of Virginia was again saved from ruin. 

Smith, on reaching England in 1609, told the London 
Company that the only hope for Virginia was a strong 
government. The King granted a new charter to the 
Company then composed of 659 persons and 56 trading 
guilds or companies. By this charter Sir Thomas 
Smythe was named as treasurer. The company at once 
decided to send to the colony a governor. The choice fell 
upon Thomas West, Lord Delaware, who was the first 
man to have the title of governor of Virginia. 

Immediately after his arrival, Delaware informed the 
people that they would be governed mildly but firmly. 
The idle were put to work and the hours of labor were 
fixed from six to ten in the morning, and from two to 
four in the afternoon. Delaware also caused the church 
to be repaired and had two sermons preached every 
Sunday and one on Thursday. Every day at ten o'clock 
the church bell was rung and the people attended 
prayers. Again at four o'clock in the afternoon they 
were required to be at services. '^On Sunday, when 
the governor went to church, he was accompanied by 
the councillors, officers, and all the gentlemen with a 
guard of halberdiers in his lordship's livery, handsome 



EDWIN SANDYS. 



59 



red cloaks, to the number of fifty on each side and behind 
him. In the church his lordship had his seat in the 
choir in a green velvet chair, with a cloth and also a 
velvet cushion laid on the table before him on which 




A VIEW OF DUTCH GAP. 

he knelt. The council and officers sat on each side of 
him and when he returned to his house, he was escorted 
back in the same manner."* Jamestown at this time 
was only a small village of rude wooden houses, and 
such ceremony as became a king appeared very foolish 
in Virginia. Still it helped to increase Lord Delaware's 
power; and it made the people stand in awe of him and 
obey his laws. 

* See Campbell's " History of Virginia/' p. 103, 



60 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

After a few months, Delaware returned to England, 
and was succeeded by Sir Thomas Dale who remained 
governor for about five years. He governed with a 
hand of iron, and under him the colony prospered greatly. 
During Dale's rule, several new plantations were formed, 
among them being Henrico City, built at what is now 
known as ^^ Dutch Gap,'' upon a neck of land not far 
from Richmond, where James River makes a great bend 
of seven miles and ' ' returns to one hundred and twenty 
yards from the point of departure." 

Dale made a wonderful change in the mode of living 
which had previously prevailed in the colony. Before 
his time, since all the land was owned by the London 
Company and all the settlers were sent out by it, the 
lands were worked in common and all the prodi^cts 
— and these belonged to the company — were put into 
one store house. Dale changed this by assigning to 
every man three acres of land, which he could hold as 
his own provided he paid a yearly rent to the company 
of two and one-half barrels of corn. This change pro- 
duced good results, for each settler now had the oppor- 
tunity to make something for himself, if he would work. 

With Dale came the Rev. Alexander Whitaker, a 
graduate of Cambridge University, England. His great 
desire was to convert the Indians to Christianity, and 
through his influence an attempt was made at Henrico 






EDWIN SANDYS. 61 



City to build a college, chiefly for the education of the 
Indians. This was the first American college, and it 
was destroyed during the Indian massacre of 1622. 

When Dale returned to England in 1616, he was suc- 
ceeded by George Yeardley as deputy-governor, who 
gave great satisfaction to the Virginians, but after a 
I year the government passed into the hands of Samuel 
Argall. 

; Virginia was just beginning to prosper; but under 
j Argall came a change, for he seized all the public ware- 
houses and appropriated the grain and tobacco to his 
own use. He forced the laborers to work for him, in- 
stead of for the Company. In those days there were 
some persons in Virginia {" indented ^' servants) who, in 
order to get their transportation to the colony, had 
bound themselves for a period of years, some for three, 
some for five and some for ten years. When they had 
served the time for which they were bound, they be- 
came free citizens of Virginia, but Argall was such a 
tyrant that he kept in bondage some men who had 
served out their terms. Such arbitrary rule caused 
the colony again to decline, and at once the London 
Company recalled him. 

By this time the factions in the London Company 
were becoming more distinct. Argall was a relative of 
Sir Thomas Smythe, and many members of the Com- 



62 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



pany felt that if Smythe was removed, the Company 
would manage the affairs more satisfactorily. By the 
charter of 1609, the officers and councilors of the Com- 
pany were appointed by King James, but in 1612, when 

a third charter was 
granted, the London Com- 
pany was given the right 
to elect its own officers. 
There soon came to exist 
in the Company a liberal 
party which felt that the 
government of Virginia 
should be run without 
interference from the 
king. To the party of 
the court belonged Sir 
Thomas Smythe, while 
the leader of the King^s 
opponents was Sir Edwin 
Sandys, who was finally 
elected treasurer of the London Company (1619). 

Sandys was born in 1561. He was a son of Edwin 
Sandys, Archbishop of York, and was educated at Ox- 




sir THOMAS SMYTHE.* 



* This portrait and those on pp. 55 and 64 are taken from Fiske's 
*' Old Virginia and Her Neighbors," by permission of the publishers, 
Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin and Company. 



EDWIN SANDYS. 



63 



ord University where he received the degree of Bachelor 
of Arts. When a young man, he became a member of 
Parhament where he was well known for his oratory and 
scholarship. Here he allied himself with those who op- 
posed the King's high-handed methods of governing. 
From 1617 to 1619 Sandys was deputy-treasurer of the 
jLondon Company. 

When Sandys became treasurer in 1619, he deter- 
mined to give Vir- 
ginia a better gov- 
ernment. For this 
Ipurpose Yeardley 

iwas made governor, 

1 

land representative 

government was in- 
troduced. The send- 
ing of young women 
to the colony to be- 
jcome wives of the 
jsettlers was also one 
jof Sandys's schemes. 
In order that the 




EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON. 



jtobacco industry of 

iVirginia might be encouraged, he favored the exclusion 
|of all tobacco from England not grown in Virginia. 
These measures did not please the despotic King 



64 



MAKEES OF VIEGINIA HISTORY. 



James, and he, therefore, wished to get Sandys out of the 
treasurership of the Company. In 1620, when the elec- 
tion was at hand, the members of the Company were 
about to reelect Sandys, when some representatives of 
the king came to the meeting and commanded, in the 
king's name, that some other person should be selected. 

Filled with indignation, the 
liberals called for the reading 
of the Charter. When the 
document had been read, one 
of the members said: '^The 
words of the charter are plain; 
the election of a treasurer is 
left to the free choice of this 
Company.'' Sir Edwin San- 
dys, hoping to preserve peace, 
withdrew his name, but 
caused his friend the Earl of 
Southampton to be elected, though the King had nom- 
inated Sir Thomas Smythe. Southampton was a friend 
of the great Shakespeare, and a member of the liberal 
party. Associated with the earl as deputy-treasurer was 
Nicholas Ferrar, a graduate of Cambridge and a deeply 
religious man. 

Southampton, Sandys and Ferrar were the ruling 
spir-ts of the London Company and they firmly insisted 




NICHOLAS FERRAR. 



EDWIK SANDYS. 65 

that the Virginians should be allowed self-government. 
The king, therefore, determined to destroy the London 
Company, and after a struggle of four years the charter 
of the Company was taken away (1624). Southampton, 
Sandys and Ferrar barely escaped imprisonment on ac- 
count of their resistance to the King. When Ferrar saw 
that the Company was doomed, he had a copy made of 
the proceedings of the Company from the day (April 28, 
1619) that Sandys was elected treasurer till the over- 
throw of the Company in 1624. This copy is now pre- 
served in the Library of Congress at Washington. 

The Earl of Southampton died a few months after the 
overthrow of the London Company. Sandys lived till 
1629, and during his latter years was a prominent mem- 
ber of Parliament. Nicholas Ferrar lived till 1637. For 
the last eleven years of his life he was a preacher, and 
did much in England to promote education and to en- 
courage philanthropy. Southampton, Sandys and Fer- 
rar never came to America, but they deserve our grati- 
tude for having preserved representative government in 
Virginia. 

Review Questions. 

What horrible things occurred at Jamestown after Smith 
left? Tell of the shipwreck of Gates and Somers. What was 
the condition of the colony when Gates and Somers arrived? 
Tell how Delaware saved the colony from destruction. Tell 
of Delaware's government of Virginia. Tell of Dale's rule in 



66 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Virginia. What was the first attempt to establish a college? 
Tell of Argairs rule in Virginia. Give an account of the fac- 
tions in the London Company. Tell of the life of Edwin 
Sandys. What did he do for Virginia? Tell of the Earl of 
Southampton. Give some account of Nicholas Ferrar. Tell 
of the overthrow of the London Company. Why should 
Southampton, Sandys and Ferrar be remembered? 

Geography Study. 

Map of United States. — Find the Bermuda Islands, Map 
of Virginia. — Locate Dutch Gap, Richmond and Jamestown. 



CHAPTER V. 
GEORGE YEARDLEY. 

1580(?)-1627. 

As you have learned it was chiefly through the influ- 
ence of Sir Edwin Sandys that representative govern- 
ment was granted to Virginia, but its inauguration in 
Virginia was accomplished by Sir George Yeardley. 

Yeardley was born in London about 1580. His father 
was a nler chant tailor. Of his early life, very little is 
known. He sailed for Virginia in 1609 along with 
Gates and Somers and with them was shipwrecked in 
the Bermudas. During Dale's administration, Captain 
Yeardley had become one of the inhabitants at Lower 
Bermuda Hundred, a settlement on James River, and 
was soon one of the leading men of the colony. 

In 1616 the colony seemed to be somewhat declining. 
There were now only three hundred and fifty people 
distributed among seven settlements, whereas five 
years before, there had been seven hundred people in 
Virginia. The cause of this decline was the fact that 
nothing as yet had been produced in Virginia which 
would yield wealth. The colony had been planted 



m 



MAKEES OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



with the hope of finding gold and making money by 
trading with the Indians. Food supplies were brought 
from England instead of being raised in Virginia. Smith 
had insisted that grain should be raised, and in 1608 
had caused forty acres to be planted in Indian corn. 
Farming was difficult because the settlers had no ploughs, 













I 






i 


1 


I^IRli-i 


' lis -5^5: J 


n 


[^^s^5i¥* 




^^^B^^^^K^^^p * '^'^'^IriK^' *. 


^m 


F^^^iy^^^H 








" .-.W: / - ^*-^*' 


^»f^^^^ 


>* "* ::< 








^t^: 


mm 


l-l#^-, 


m, ;*■;-;;. 




: ^^. _.,..,.:lAli'^: ^:^^ 



A VIRGINIA TOBACCO FIELD OF TO-DAY. 



and the land was cultivated with the spade, shovel and 
the hoe. AVhen Dale came to Virginia, he forced the 
settlers to plant corn, and he brought over many hogs, 
cows and horses. In 1612, the colonists began the culti- 
vation of tobacco, but only in patches of a few plants. 



GEORGE YEARDLEY. 69 

At this time nothing had been shipped from Virginia, 
except a httle sassafras root. A great deal of tobacco 
was used in England, but it was brought from the West 
Indies and South America. It is said that the first 
Virginian who attempted the planting of tobacco with 
the view of shipping it to England was John Rolfe, the 
husband of Pocahontas. Yeardley believed that the 
wealth of Virginia lay in the production of tobacco, 
and as soon as he got the reins of the government, he 
exerted himself to increase its cultivation. As a result, 
a large crop was planted in 1617 and the colonists were 
so anxious to raise tobacco, that it was grown even in 
the streets of Jamestown. After a year Yeardley re- 
turned to England, yielding the deputy-governorship to 
Argall, who held the position for two years. 

Yeardley was very popular in A^irginia and England, 
and for some reason King James I. had knighted him. 
When Sandys became treasurer of the Company, Yeard- 
ley was appointed Governor and Captain-General of 
Virginia, and in April, 1619, he returned to Virginia. 
Under him the colony took on new life. A great num- 
ber of settlers came, and the four hundred inhabitants 
of 1618, by the close of 1619, had increased to two 
thousand.* 

* In 1619 many emigrants were coming from England, but only a 
few of them were women. It was seen that Virginia could not 



70 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Yeardley brought with him instructions from the 
London Company to estabhsh a better form of govern- 
ment for the people of Virginia and ' ' that the planters 
might have a hand in the governing of themselves, it 
was granted that a general assembly should be held 
yearly once, whereat were to be present the Governor 
and council, with two burgesses from each plantation 
freely to be elected by the inhabitants thereof. '^ This 
assembly was empowered to make such laws as should 
seem best for the government of the colony. Carrying 
out his instructions, Yeardley issued a call to the people 
of Virginia to elect representatives to meet at James- 
town on Friday, the thirtieth day of July, 1619. At 
the time named, the general assembly, better known 
as the House of Burgesses, met for the first time in the 
history of Virginia. This was also the first legislative 

prosper unless many home builders came to the colony; therefore, 
the London Company sent to Virginia ninety girls who were to be- 
come wives of the settlers. The expense of sending them was large 
and as they were without means to pay their own transportation, it 
was understood that when these girls arrived in Virginia, any man 
who paid one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco, about eighty 
dollars, should be entitled to select one of the girls as his wife. 
When the shipload of young women arrived at Jamestown, the 
planters from the settlements flocked there seeking wives to take tc 
their homes. The outcome of this experiment was that other women 
soon came to the colony, and in a little while the majority of the men 
were married and had made Virginia their permanent homes. Up tc 
this time the colonists were chiefly single men who had come to Vir- 
ginia with the desire of making a fortune in order that they might 
return to live in England. 



GEORGE YEAKDLEY. 71 

body to be held on American soil. In this assembly 
were twenty-two representatives, two being elected from 
each of the eleven settlements then in the colony. 

It was indeed a happy day when the House of Bur- 
gesses came together to pass laws for the colony 
which was in the course of years to bloom into a great 
republic. Since there was no capitol building at James- 
town, the governor and council had to decide upon a 
place of meeting. The church was selected as the most 
convenient place. To this the governor and council and 
burgesses went in the order of their official positions. 
The governor entered first and sat down in his accus- 
tomed place, then next to him, on either side, came all 
the members of the council, except the secretary of the 
council, who was appointed speaker; he sat directly 
in front of the governor^ A secretary was appointed 
who sat next to the speaker, and in front of the bar stood 
the sergeant-at-arms ready to execute any command of 
the assembly. Before any business was transacted, the 
governor asked Mr. Bucke, the minister, to offer prayer 
for God's blessing on the deliberations of the assembly. 
Then all the burgesses, before they were admitted to a 
seat in the choir of the church, were requested to retire 
to the body of the church, and each man was called in 
order and by name, and was brought before the speaker's 
desk and required to take the oath acknowledging the 



72 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

King of England as the head of the Church as well as 
of the State. After having made the oath, each burgess 
was seated as a member. Thus began the first Virginia 
legislature. It remained in session five days. The 
governor sat with it throughout the whole session, a 
right which the governor does not have in these modern 
days. 

The House of Burgesses petitioned the London Com- 
pany that every man might own the land which he culti- 
vated, and that proper steps should be taken toward 
the erection of a college in the colony. A law was 
passed making tobacco the money of the colony, and for 
a long time after this the people used tobacco in buying 
and selling goods. The burgesses and the preachers re- 
ceived their pay in tobacco; and with it ladies bought 
their silks and embroidery. The first House of Burgesses 
enacted that any man found idle should be forced to 
work, and that the authorities should appoint a master 
for him. Every gambler should be fined. Any man 
who was found drunk, for the first offense, was to be re- 
proved in private by the minister; for the second offense, 
he was to be reproved in public in the church, and for 
the third time, he was to be imprisoned for twelve hours. 
If this did not cure him of drunkenness, he should be 
severely punished as the governor and the council should 
see fit. It was also provided by law that no man should 



GEOEGE YEAKDLEY. 



73 



wear expensive clothing. For extravagance in living, 
a person was forced to contribute to the church accord- 
ing to his dress. 

It is worthy of note that the same year which saw 
the establishment of the first House of Burgesses and 
the beginning of so many 
permanent homes, should 
likewise have seen the in- 
troduction of negro slavery. 
In August, 1619, Jamestown 
was visited by a Dutch man- 
of-war which sold to the 
settlers twenty negroes. Of 
these. Governor Yeardley 
himself bought eight, five 
women and three men. The 
planters who owned these 
slaves did not think that they 
were committing a sin, for 
at that time slavery existed 
in some form or other in all 
parts of the world. In 

Virginia there were a number of white men who 
were practically slaves. They were called 'in- 
dented servants,'' because they had been bound 
by an indenture for a fixed number of years. Some 




STOVE USED IN THE HOUSE OF 
BUEOESSES IN THE EARLY 
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 



74 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

of these servants had been bound in this way be- 
cause they had committed crimes, while others had of 
their own accord agreed to be servants in order that 
they might come to Virginia. While they were serving 
out their time, they were regarded as slaves in that they 
might be bought and sold for their services. You have 
already read how unjustly they were treated by Gov- 
ernor Samuel Argall. If a servant ran away twice 
from his master, on being caught, he was branded with 
the letter '^R '' to show that he was a runaway or fugi- 
tive. In 1619 there was a great demand for servants 
and slaves because the planters were taking Yeardley's 
advice, and were raising large crops of tobacco to ship 
to England. In 1619 twenty thousand pounds of to- 
bacco were shipped; in 1620 forty thousand; in 1622 
sixty thousand, and by 1700 more than fifteen million 
pounds of tobacco were sent annually to England. 

The first negro slaves were bought by the planters in 
order that they might get a class of laborers suited to 
tobacco culture. Twenty-five years passed, however, 
before the Virginians began to buy many negroes. Gov- 
ernor Yeardley encouraged* African slavery by buying 

* He also encouraged farming in many ways. He caused the 
planters to sow wheat and to raise Indian corn as well as tobacco. 
He fertilized the soil with marl and promoted cattle raising. On his 
own plantation he had a herd of twenty-four cows. He was the first 
to erect a windmill in Virginia. His estate at his death was esti- 
mated at $30,000, a large amount for that time. 



GEOKGE YEARDLEY. 75 

eight out of the first twenty. He put them to work on 
his plantation near Bermuda Hundred. When he died, 
he directed in his will that his '^negars'' should be 
sold. 

After two years of faithful service, Yeardley re- 
c{uested the London Company to appoint a successor 
and he retired from the governorship. He was suc- 
ceeded by Sir Francis Wyatt, who brought to Virginia 
a charter confirming Yeardley's action in establishing 
the House of Burgesses. 

In 1622 occurred the terrible Indian massacre. 
Opechancanough, who had succeeded Powhatan, was. 
disturbed by the growth of the colony, and longed for 
an opportunity to check it. The immediate cause of 
trouble was due to an Indian warrior, Nemattenow, who 
went to the store of a settler named Morgan, enticed him 
away and murdered him. Two young men, Morgan^s 
servants, killed the Indian in revenge. In order to 
avenge the death of this warrior, Opechancanough 
planned an attack on the English settlers. On the 
twenty-second of March, 1622, at a time when the set- 
tlers were totally unprepared, the Indians came upon 
them in their fields and at their homes, and brutally 
butchered men, women and»children. In three hours' 
time, three hundred and forty-nine of the settlers had 
been killed. 



76 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



Sir George Yeardley, who had made his horae in Vir- 
ginia after he resigned his governorship, was at once 
made leader of the forces to subdue the Indians. With 
three hundred men he drove the Indians south of the 
James or north of the York River, destroying their 
cabins and settlements and seizing their corn and pro- 
visions. The Indians were hunted and killed without 
quarter. Many were also forced back into the wilder- 
ness west of where Richmond now stands, and their 

favorite hunting 



l™!7~ 




grounds and fields were 

taken away from them. 
Soon after this. King 

James, on account of 
,M the liberal policy of 

the London Company, 
f'll took away its charter, 

■III, «] 

and he himself began 
to manage the colony 
(1624). Virginia thus 
became a royal prov- 
ince, and the gov- 
ernors, from this time 
to the Revolution, were appointed by the king. James 
continued Sir Francis Wyatt as governor, until he 
could prepare a special book of laws for the govern- 



CHARLES I. 






GEORGE YEARDLEY. 7? 



merit of Virginia. Fortunately, perhaps, for Virginia, 
James died in 1625, without having completed his plans 
of government for the colony. Charles I. succeeded 
him as king and reappointed Wyatt as governor of 
Virginia. The House of Burgesses was continued, so 
that, after all, Virginia did not lose the liberal govern- 
ment which she had received from the London Com- 
pany. 

In 1625 Wyatt gave up the governorship and re- 
turned to his home in Ireland, and Sir George Yeardley 
was again made governor. This was his third time in 
office. He remained governor but eighteen months. 
In November, 1627, he died and was buried at James- 
town. Recently a tomb, in which some knight was 
buried, has been found within the old church, and it is 
generally thought to be the grave of Sir George Yeardley. 
There were only three hundred and fifty people in 
the colony when Yeardley first became governor, but 
at the time of his death there were probably thirty-five 
hundred or four thousand people, at least a thousand 
emigrants having come over during his last year as 
governor. This population was distributed among 
1 seventeen or eighteen plantations, most of them along 
' the banks of the James River. Yeardley seems to have 
been a man well suited to govern the colony, and the 
affairs of Virginia, whenever they were in his hands, 



78 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



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EXCAVATIONS IN THE JAMESTOWN CHURCH, SHOWING THE SUP- 
POSED TOMB OF YEARDLEY. 



prospered. The colonists believed that he was an 
honest, upright and virtuous man, and when he died, 
the Virginia council in a letter to the English govern- 
ment, praised in the highest terms Yeardley and his 

virtues. 

Review Questions. 

Who was Yeardley? What was the condition of Virginia 
when he first became governor? Tell of the beginning of the 
cultivation of tobacco. How did the king honor Yeardley? 
Tell of the increase in population when Yeardley was 
governor for the second time. What was the House of 
Burgesses? Describe its first meetiag. What were some of 
its acts? Tell how wives were brought over for the colonists. 
Explain what is meant by indented servants. Tell of the 
introduction of negro slaves. Why did the planters want 






GEOKGE YEARDLEY. 7^ 



slaves? Describe the massacre of 1622. What was done to 
the Indians? Tell of Yeardley's governorship for the third 
time. Describe the growth of Virginia under Yeardley. 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Locate Bermuda Hundred and James- 
town. How would you go from Bermuda Hundred to James- 
town? 



CHAPTER VI. 
WILLIAM CLAIBORNE. 

1589-1676. 

For forty years in the early history of the colony of 
Virginia, a prominent figure was William Claiborne. 

He was born in West- 
morelandshire, northern 
England, of an old Eng- 
lish family, and seems to 
have received a good 
education. In 1621 he 
was appointed by the 
London Company as sur- 
veyor of the plantations 
of Virginia, and arrived 
at Jamestown along with 
Sir Francis Wyatt, who 
came to succeed Gov- 
ernor Yeardley. As sur- 
veyor of the colony, Claiborne collected materials for 
the first reliable map of Virginia. He became promi- 




WILLIAM CLAIBORNE. 



WILLIAM CLAIBORKE. 81 

nent in the colony as a member of the council, and ac- 
quired a large estate containing more than fifty thousand 
acres of land. In 1625 Charles I. appointed him Secre- 
tary of State for Virginia. 

In 1629, Lord Baltimore, a prominent English Cath- 
olic, came to Virginia with the view of making it his 
home ; but the people were strong believers in the Church 

' of England and did not desire 
any Catholics in their midst. 

; They therefore told Lord Balti- 

I more that before he could live in 

I Virginia, he would have to take 

i 

i an oath acknowledging the Eng- 

( lish king as the head of the 

i Church. Of course Lord Balti- ™^ ^'^^'' ^^^^^ ^^^'''- 

I MORE. 

1 more refused to make such an 
oath, because, as a good Catholic, he believed the Pope 
to be the true head of the Church. 

Claiborne was one of those who wanted to make his 
lordship take the oath, and he was active in demand- 
ing that Lord Baltimore should leave the colony for 
refusing to accept the king as the head of the Church. 
However, in spite of the fact that the officials would 
not allow Lord Baltimore to settle in Virginia, it seemed 
that they were not willing for him to be ill-treated while 
he tarried in the colony. At the time, there was at 




82 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Jamestown, one Thomas Tindal, who, because of his 
hatred for the Cathohcs, insulted Lord Baltimore, 
calling him a liar and threatening to knock him down. 
For this discourtesy Tindal was tried and placed in the 
pillory for two hours. 

Lord Baltimore returned to England and received 
from King Charles a charter to settle north of the Poto- 
mac River, in the territory that had previously been 
included in the Virginia grant. It was provided that he 
should take only such land as had not been cultivated. 
The Virginians did not like this action on the part 
of King Charles I., and they protested violently against 
Lord Baltimore's receiving a part of their lands. But 
their objection was ignored by the king, and Lord Balti- 
more was allowed to send over a colony of Catholics 
and such others as cared to join them, and a settlement 
was made at St. Mary's, Maryland, in 1634. 

William Claiborne, acting under license from the king, 
had formed a partnership in London under the name 
of Clobery and Company, to trade with the Indians and 
to make discoveries in Virginia. In 1631 he sent to 
Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay, not far from the 
present site of Annapolis, a band of one hundred settlers. 
As this island was then considered within the limits of 
Virginia, Claiborne's colony was allowed to send one 
representative to the House of Burgesses. In 1632 



WILLIAM CLAIBORNE, 88 

the colony was represented by Captain Nicholas Martian, 
who was an ancestor of George Washington. 

When Claiborne learned that Lord Baltimore was to 
make a settlement around the Chesapeake, he appealed 
to the king to protect him in his right to Kent Island. 
He claimed that Lord Baltimore's charter was for un- 
settled lands, and that, since his island was already 
settled, it was therefore not included in the Maryland 
grant. So, when the Maryland colony arrived, Claiborne 
refused to consider his settlement as a part of Lord Bal- 
timore's possessions. He was then accused of trying to 
stir up the Indians against the Marylanders, but this ac- 
cusation was shown to be false. Lord Baltimore, how- 
ever, ordered Leonard Calvert, the governor of Maryland, 
to proceed to Kent Island to take possession of it, and to 
make Claiborne a prisoner. On hearing of these in- 
structions of Lord Baltimore, Claiborne again appealed 
to the king. Charles I. thereupon wrote that Lord 
Baltimore had no claims on Kent Island, and that his 
action in trying to get it was "contrary to justice." 

A war then broke out between Claiborne's settlement 
and Maryland. Governor Calvert captured some of 
Claiborne's boats in Pocomoke Sound and a little 
later sent an expedition against Kent Island, which 
was conquered and made part of Maryland. Two of 
Claiborne's followers were taken to St. Mary's, tried 



84 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



and condemned to be hanged. Though the Maryland 
government failed to take Claiborne prisoner, it caused 

him to be indicted and con- 
victed of murder and piracy. 
His personal property on 
the island was seized and 
appropriated to Lord Bal- 
timore's use. Having lost 
his possessions, Claiborne 
sailed for England, where 
he brought the whole mat- 
ter before King Charles I., 
who referred it to a number 
of his advisors, known as 
the ' ' Lords Commissioners 
of Plantations.'' Their de- 
cision was rendered against Claiborne and in favor of 
Lord Baltimore. 

Not despairing, Claiborne returned to Virginia and 
tried to recover some of his personal property, but the 
Maryland government claimed that he had forfeited 
it. He then settled down to a quiet life in Virginia, 
and in 1642, Charles I., in order to conciliate him, made 
him treasurer of Virginia for life. 

Claiborne was always popular with the Virginians, 
and while he was disputing with Lord Baltimore, they 




THE DISPUTED TERRITORY. 



WILLIAM CLAIBOKNE. 86 

had helped and upheld him. Sir John Harvey, then 
governor of Virginia, had sided with Lord Baltimore, 
and he deliberately removed Claiborne from the office 
of Secretary of State for the colony. On account of 
this action, but chiefly because he took public funds 
for his own use, the people, especially in York County,* 
became greatly incensed with Governor Harvey. A 
petition was presented to the Council against him, and 
after considering the case, a meeting of the House of 
Burgesses was called. The Council and Burgesses 
thereupon deposed Harvey and sent him to England 
for trial. This was really a rebellion against Charles L, 
who declared that Harvey should go back to Virginia 
if he stayed but a day. 

Hardly had Claiborne become treasurer of the colony, 
before Charles I. was at war with Parliament. Clai- 
borne joined himself to the Puritan or Parliamentary 
party, though he was a member of the Church of Eng- 
land. Undoubtedly his desire was to get the Puritan 
support, so that he could recover Kent Island, 

About this time, 1644, the Roman Catholic govern- 
ment in Maryland was overthrown by Captain Richard 
Ingle. Claiborne is thought to have encouraged Cap- 

* About this time, 1634, the twenty-three plantations in Virginia 
were divided into eight counties: York, James City, Accomac, Charles 
City, Elizabeth City, Henrico, Warrick, and Isle of Wight. 



86 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



tain Ingle, though there is no proof of it. Governor 
Calvert fled to Virginia, but the next year returned with 
a Virginia force furnished him by Governor Berkeley 
and re-established himself in Maryland. 

As soon as the Commonwealth was established in 
England with Cromwell at its head, Claiborne and 
Richard Bennett, with two others, were appointed by 
Parliament as commissioners to reduce Virginia and 

Maryland, those two 
colonies having pro- 
claimed Prince 
Charles (afterwards, 
Charles 11.) , as their 
king. Governor 
Berkeley wanted the 
^^irginians to fight, 
but an assembly be- 
ing called, an agree- 
ment was reached 
with Bennett and 
Claiborne whereby 
the Commonwealth was acknowledged in Virginia, but 
the colony was granted free trade, such as the people of 
England then enjoyed. Richard Bennett was made 
governor of Virginia, and Claiborne became Secretary of 
State for the colony and a member of the council (1652). 




CHARLES 11. 



WILLIAM CLAIBORNE. 87 

Maryland was likewise forced to accept the Common- 
wealth. Governor Stone was removed and the govern- 
ment of the colony was put into the hands of the council. 
Later the commissioners restored Governor Stone, but 
as he did not observe the agreement which he made, a 
civil war broke out in Maryland. The Puritan party, 
which had the support of Claiborne, met Stone in battle 
near the mouth of the Severn River. Lord Baltimore's 
adherents were severely defeated and a number were 
taken prisoners. Twenty were killed and many were 
wounded ^'and all the place was strewed with papist 
beads where they fled. Several of the prisoners were 
•condemned to death by court-martial and four of the 
principals, one of thsm a councillor, were executed on 
the spot. Captain William Stone (governor), likewise 
sentenced, owed his escape to the intercession of some 
women.'' At once, the Puritan government was es- 
tablished and the Catholics who had settled Maryland, 
were not allowed to have any voice in the government. 

Lord Baltimore appealed to Cromwell to restore his 
rights. The Virginians at the advice of Claiborne did 
all in their power to prevent his lordship from again 
getting control of Maryland, and they showed that 
Virginia had settled Kent Island before Lord Balti- 
more's colony came to America. In 1657 the quarrel 
was settled in favor of Lord Baltimore^ and Claiborne 




88 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

had to retire from Maryland; after a contest of twenty- 
four years. 

Claiborne continued as Secretary of State for the 
colony of Virginia until 1660, at which time he was 

removed from office by Sir 
William Berkeley, who 
again became governor of 

CLAIBORNE'S AUTOGRAPH. . . i • i 

Yii-gmia. After this he led 
the life of a planter, living in New Kent county, which 
county he had organized and named after Kent Island. 
In 1660 he was elected a member of that House of 
Burgesses which Berkeley kept in power for sixteen 
years. In 1675 he presented a petition to Charles II.. 
in which he showed that in his attempt to settle Kent 
Island he had lost six thousand pounds ($30,000), 
and he begged the king that Lord Baltimore might be 
forced to make restoration for this loss. To this peti- 
tion, Charles paid no attention. All of Claiborne's 
friends in England were now dead, and he had no one 
to help him. 

Claiborne died, probably, the next year (1676), in the 
midst of Bacon's Rebellion, at the age of eighty-seven. 
He left three sons, from whom many of the best people 
of our state claim descent. 

Claiborne has wrongly been called a '^ rebel. ^' He 
did not overthrow the Maryland government, except 



WILLIAM CLAIBORNE. 89 

in carrying out the instructions wliich he had received 
"from England. He felt that he had been misused, and 
being a persevering and determined man, he tried for 
years to get his claims to Kent Island recognized. 
Surely no man should be called a rebel who demands 
his just rights. 

Review Questions. 

What were the different offices which Claiborne held? 
Tell of Lord Baltimore's trip to Virginia. Tell the story of 
Thomas Tindal. Why did not Claiborne want Lord Baltimore 
to settle Maryland? Tell about the struggle over Kent Island. 
Tell the story of Governor Harvey. Name the first counties 
of Virginia. What was the Commonwealth in England? 
On what terms did Virginia accept the Commonwealth? 
Who was Bennett? What became of Claiborne after the 
Restoration? Why was Claiborne wrongly called a rebel? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia and Maryland. Find Annapolis, St. 
Mary's, Kent Island and Severn River. Locate Jamestown 
and the counties of New Kent, Charles City, York, James 
City, Accomac, Elizabeth City, Henrico, Warrick and Isle of 
Wiffht. 



CHAPTER VII. 
WILLIAM BERKELEY. 

1600-1677. 

At the time of Governor Yeardley's death, Virginia 
was in a prosperous condition. Much of this prosperity 
was lost under the unworthy Governor John Pott, who 
was removed from office, brought to trial and found 
guilty of stealing cattle. His successor. Sir John Har- 
vey, caused severe measures to be passed against per- 
sons who did not worship God according to the Church 
of England, which was the established church of Virginia. 
Harvey, as you may remember, was removed by the 
Council and Burgesses, and for the few following years 
Sir Francis Wyatt was for a second time governor of 
Virginia. In 1642 he was succeeded by Sir William 
Berkeley, who, with the exception of the Common- 
wealth period, was governor of Virginia for thirty-five 
years. 

Sir William Berkeley was born in England about 
1600. He was a man of fine education, a graduate of 
Oxford University and afterwards a fellow of Merton 
College . He was a warm friend of Charles I . , who greatly 



WILLIAM BERKELEY. 



91 



admired him and made him a member of his council. 
Berkeley was a man of elegant manners, of refinement 
and culture. In those days, many of the courtiers were 
literary men, and it is said that Sir William wrote plays 
which were acted in the London theaters. Though a 
cultured man, he had narrow views as to the rights of 
the people, and was 
a bigot in matters of 
religion. One of the 
first acts of his gov- 
ernorship was to in- 
sist on a law against 
those who were not 
members of the es- 
tablished church. 
Berkeley was anx- 
ious to drive from 
Virginia the Puritans 
who had come from 
New England; so he 
caused the House of 
Burgesses to pass a 
law to the effect that 
^^all ministers whatsoever . . . are to be conform- 
able to the orders and constitutions of the Church 
of England and the laws therein estabhshed, and 




THE OLD CHURCH AT SMITHFIELD. 



92 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA UISTORY. 

not otherwise be admitted to teach or preach pub- 
hcly or privately; and that the governor and council 
do take care that all non-conformists . . . shall be 
compelled to depart the colony with all convenience/' 

In 1644 the old Indian chief, Opechancanough, at- 
tempted a second massacre of the English on the fron- 
tier. Berkeley at once led the forces against him, seized 
the old king and brought him a prisoner to Jamestown. 
Opechancanough was now over ninety years of age, 
and, with paralyzed eyelids, could not see without their 
being raised for him. One day, hearing footsteps in 
his prison cell, he requested that his eyelids might be 
raised; and, when he saw the great crowd that had 
come to view him, he sent for the governor. When 
Berkeley appeared, the old Indian chief with great 
indignation addressed him: '^Had it been my fortune 
to take Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I would not have 
descended to make a show of him.'' A few weeks after, 
Opechancanough was shot by one of his guards. 

As you learned in the chapter on Claiborne, King 
Charles went to war with the English Parliament. His 
followers were chiefly those who held to the English 
Church and believed that the king should have un- 
limited power. They were, as a rule, from the higher 
and titled classes of England and w^re called the Cava- 
liers. Opposed to Charles was the body of the middle 



WILLIAM BERKELEY. 



93 



class that did not accept the Church of England, believ- 
ing that religion stood greatly in need of purification 
and that many of the customs and amusements of the 
Cavaliers should be abolished. They likewise thought 
that the king should exercise few powers outside of 
those that Parliament granted him. These people 
lived very simply, caring little for fashion or dress. 
The Cavaliers wore their hair long, but the oppo- 
nents of Charles, regarding this fashion as effeminate, 
had their hair cropped close to the head and for that 
reason were called Roundheads. Their great leader 
was Oliver Cromwell. 
Charles was defeated, taken 
prisoner, condemned as a 
traitor and executed on the 
block. Many of his follow- 
ers fled to Virginia, which 
thus came to be known as 
the Cavalier colony. 

In 1650 there were in 
Virginia about fifteen 
thousand English and three 
hundred negroes, living in 
fourteen counties. Many 
Puritans had come to the colony, probably more than 
a thousand, which fact explains why Virginia so readily 




ROUNDHEAD AND CAVALIER 



94 



MAKERS OF VlRGkNIA HISTORY. 



surrendered to Bennett and Claiborne, the commission- 
ers of the Enghsh Commonwealth. 

Berkeley quietly retired from the governorship and 
took up his residence at his plantation, Green Springs, 
about six miles west of Jamestown. Richard Bennett, 
a Puritan who had once been driven out of Virginia 

because he would 
not conform to the 
English Church, was 
elected governor. 
Two years later, the 
Virginian Assembly 
elected Edmund 
Diggs to this office, 
and his salary was 
fixed at twenty 
thousand pounds of 
tobacco annually. 
The next year Thomas Matthew was chosen governor. 
In 1658, Cromwell died, and it was generally believed 
that the Commonwealth of England, bereft of its leader, 
would soon fall. About the same time. Governor 
Matthews died, and Sir William Berkeley was elected 
governor by the Virginia House of Burgesses. Shortly 
afterwards Charles II. was made King of England, 
and he at once confirmed the election of Berkeley. 




RUINS AT "green SPRINGS." 



WILLIAM BERKELEY. 95 

Virginia was now called the Old Dominion, this name, 
so the story goes, having been giv&n it by Charles 11. , 
because he believed that the Virginians had always been 
loyal to him. 

Through Berkeley's influence, the House of Burgesses 
passed an act against all Quakers in the colony, declaring 
that they taught lies and would destroy the govern- 
ment. All Quakers were to be sent out of the colony, 
all vessels bringing them to Virginia were to be fined 
one hundred pounds of tobacco, and any person enter- 
taining a Quaker would be obliged to pay one hundred 
pounds sterling ($500). 

During the next fifteen years, Berkeley ruled Virginia 
much as if he had been its king. While the Common- 
wealth existed, the people had enjoyed much freedom. 
The House of Burgesses had been elected yearly, and 
it, in return, had elected the governors. Thus Virginia 
was as much a free state as it is to-day. On the res- 
toration of Charles II. to the throne of England, a 
great change took place. A House of Burgesses was 
elected which was in favor of restricting the liberties 
of the people. This body was composed of two repre- 
sentatives each from twenty counties and one repre- 
sentative from Jamestown. With them sat the governor 
and the sixteen councillors of state. Sir William 
Berkeley continued this assembly, which was composed 



96 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

of his followers, for sixteen years, during which time he 
would not allow another general election. Well might 
the liberty-loving Virginians be ready to enter into a 
rebellion against Berkeley and his tyrannical govern- 
ment ! 

In 1671, Berkeley reported the condition of the colony 
to the Commissioners of Plantations in England. He 
placed the population of Virginia at forty thousand, 
of which number two thousand were slaves and six 
thousand white (^^ indented") servants. With refer- 
ence to education he reported that every man, accord- 



tSiS l.^*^ayi^C^cJ(^ i(P^^ 




^^/Mm J £41^^ 



Berkeley's signature to a document. 

ing to his ability, instructed his own children, as was 
the case in England. There were forty-eight parishes 
in Virginia, most of them supplied with preachers, but 
not good ones, since only the worthless ones were sent 
from England. Berkeley wrote: ''Our ministers are 
well paid and by my consent could be better, if they 
would pray oftener and preach less.'' His closing re- 
marks were : ''But I thank God, there are no free schools 
and no printing, and I hope w^e shall not have these 



WILLIAM BERKELEY. 97 

hundred years, for learning has brought disobedience 
and heresy and sects into the world, and printing has 
divulged them and libels against the best government. 
God keep us from both. '^ This shows the narrow spirit 
of the man, and becoming yet more insolent as he grew 
older, he made himself ever more unpopular. He ruled 
the colony with an iron hand, expecting that his will 
should be obeyed as law. 

Finally, many of the Virginians, with Nathaniel 
Bacon as leader, rose in rebellion. With great difficulty 
Berkeley managed to quell them, and, the rebels once 
in his power, he showed what a tyrant he was by caus- 
ing twenty-three of them to suffer death. 

In 1677, Charles II. removed Berkeley from the gov- 
ernorship. It is said that when Berkeley reached Eng- 
land, the king refused to see him, declaring: "That old 
fool (Berkeley) has hung more men in that naked coun- 
try (Virginia), than I have done for the murder of my 
father (Charles I.).'/ From this rebuke Berkeley never 
recovered, dying soon afterwards of a broken heart. 

Review Questions. 

Who was John Pott ? What law was passed while Harvey 
was governor ? Tell of Berkeley's education and life in Eng- 
land. Tell of the law against Puritans. What did Opechan- 
canough try to do, and what was his fate ? Who were the 
Cavaliers ? Who were the Roundheads ? Who was Crom- 
well ? What governors were elected by the Burgesses? How 
7 



98 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

did Virginia get the name of Old Dominion ? Tell of the law 
against the Quakers. What was the character of Berkeley's 
rule from 1660 to 1775 ? Tell of Berkeley's report to England 
about the condition of Virginia. What did he say about 
schools and printing ? Tell how he treated some of Bacon's 
followers. Write a composition on Berkeley's character. 

Geography Study. 

Map of England. — Find London and Oxford. Map of 
Virginia. — Locate Jamestown. How far is it from Rich- 
mond ? How far is it from London to Jamestown? 



4 



CHAPTER VIII. 
NATHANIEL BACON. 

1646(?)-1676. 

The leader of the ' bellion against Sir William Berke- 
ley and his government was Nathaniel Bacon, Jr. His 
father was an English gentleman, Mr. Thomas Bacon, 
probably a kinsman of Lord Francis Bacon, the English 
philosopher. Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., was born about 
1646 and was educated at Oxford University, England, 
after which he traveled extensively in Europe. He 
was a young man of brilliant attainments, and the 
general opinion was that he would take a leading part 
in English politics. Before he reached manhood he 
married a daughter of Sir Edward Duke, greatly anger- 
ing his father. He seems to have been hard pressed 
for money; so, deciding to try his fortune in the New 
World, he came with his wife to Virginia. He soon 
took a prominent part in the affairs of the colony and 
was made a member of the governor's council. Brave 
and daring, he attracted to him many of the younger 
men of the colony. 

L.ofC. 



100 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

When Bacon arrived in Virginia, he found that 
Berkeley was very distasteful to the majority of the 
people. Virginia had but one industry, and that was 
tobacco raising. Upon this many restrictions had been 
placed by law, and the taxes were so heavy that the 
profits of tobacco growing were much reduced. In addi- 
tion to this, the people were dissatisfied because Berke- 
ley insisted on refusing to all except land owners the 
right to vote, as was done in England. When Berkeley 
became governor, all freeman in Virginia could vote, 
but through his influence it became the law that no 
man could vote unless he owned a landed estate and 
kept house. Moreover, as before stated, Berkeley did 
not call an assembly for sixteen years, and thus the 
masses of the people had no opportunity to influence 
law-making. But the immediate cause of Bacon's 
Rebellion was Berkeley's failure to protect the frontier 
settlements from Indian invasions. 

The people of Virginia were somewhat superstitious 
in those days, and just one year before Bacon's uprising 
there occurred three wonderful things which indicated 
that something serious would happen in the colony. 
First of all, a large comet was seen every evening for 
a week, streaming like a horse's tail across the heavens. 
The people then believed that a comet indicated war. 
At the same time, there were flights of pigeons in such 



NATHANIEL BACON. 



101 



flocks that the sky was darkened and Umbs of large 
trees were broken down at night when the pigeons went 
to roost. The third strange siglit was a swarm of 
^'flies/^ about an inch long and the size of a man's 
little finger, which came out of the ground and ate all 
the leaves from the tops of the trees. They were prob- 




AN overseer's house. 



ably locusts, which are said to have the letter '^ W '' 
on their wings as the sign of war. 

In the summer of 1675, the Indians began to kill some 
of the English settlers in the frontier counties. They 
murdered an overseer on Bacon's plantation not far 
from Richmond, and other men were killed on the 
Rappahannock, York and Pamunkey rivers. These 
crimes were reported to Governor Berkeley, and he 
promised to render assistance. But the promised aid 
did not come, and the people in the stretch of country 



102 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

from Richmond's present site to West Point on the York 
River rose for their own defence, choosing Bacon as their 
leader. A request was made of the governor that Bacon 
should be officially appointed to lead them against the 
Indians. When the commission failed to come, the 
people began to murmur, saying that Berkeley was en- 
gaged in the fur trade with the Indians and did not want 
his business interfered with. 

In the meantime, five hundred men had come to- 
gether and, without commission, at once marched into 
the wilderness to attack the Indians. Berkeley immedi- 
ately proclaimed all men who did not return within a 
day to be rebels; thereupon, most of the men owning 
large estates went home, but Bacon, with fifty-seven 
others, continued in arms. This small force proceeded 
against the Indians, and near where Richmond to-day 
stands, fought a battle in which only three whites were 
killed though one hundred and fifty Indians were 
slain. 

By the time Bacon reached home, Berkeley had at 
last decided to issue writs for the election of a new House 
of Burgesses. Bacon was selected as a member from 
Henrico county. As the time for the meeting of the 
House of Burgesses approached, he went in his boat 
down the James River, but, on reaching Jamestown, 
he was at once arrested by the high sheriff and carried 



NATHANIEL BACON. 103 

before Governor Berkeley. To Bacon's surprise, Berke- 
ley treated him civilly and allowed him to go free on 
his word of honor that he would not create a disturb- 
ance. The old governor was undoubtedly afraid of 
the people, or he would not have treated Bacon in this 
lenient manner. There was great consternation in 
Jamestown among the Burgesses and people, and on all 
sides was heard, '^ All's over; Bacon is taken." 

In the Council, there was another Nathaniel Bacori, 
Berkeley's friend and the ^'rebel's" cousin. By this 
relative Bacon 
was persuaded 
against his will 
toofferan bacon's autograph. 

apology to Governor Berkeley for having proceeded 
against the Indians without a commision. When thp 
assembly met, the governor rose and said, '^If there be 
'joy in the presence of angels over one sinner that re- 
penteth,' there is joy now, for we have a penitent sinner 
come before us." Turning to the sergeant-at-arms, 
he said, ''Call Mr. Bacon." Bacon, appearing, bowed 
on one knee before the governor, delivered into his 
hands a paper confessing his crimes, and begged pardon 
of God, the king and the governor. Berkeley then 
said, "God forgive you. I forgive you and all that were 
with you." Though the governor stated that he forgave 




104 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



all, twenty of the men who had gone in arms with Bacon 
were at that time in prison. 

A few days later Jamestown was astir. The report was 
abroad, ''Bacon is fled: Bacon is fled!'^ Berkeley had 

made promises to 
Bacon which he was 
unwilling to keep, and 
it was rumored that 
even attempts were to 
be made upon the life 
of the young rebel. 
Bacon went up the 
river, raised a force of 
about four hundred 
men and after four 
days led them into 
Jamestown to demand 
by force a commission 
allowing them to fight 
the Indians. Berkeley 
at first refused, and, 
when Bacon's troops surrounded the capitol building, 
shouting, ''We'll have it! We'll have it!" the governor 
was greatly incensed. He came out of the capitol, and, 
baring his breast before Bacon and his men, said, 
"Here, shoot me! 'Fore God, fair mark, shoot!" 




From the painting by Kelley. 

BACON DEMANDING HIS COMMISSION. 



NATHANIEL BACON. 105 

To this Bacon replied, ''No, may it please your honor, 
we will not hurt a hair of your head, or any other man's. 
We are come for a commission to save our lives from the 
Indians, which you have so often promised, and now 
we will have it before we go.'' 

At last, the governor signed the commission appoint- 
1 ing Bacon general of the forces to be raised against the 
Indians. Hardly had Bacon started for the forests 
I with about a thousand men, before Berkeley proclaimed 
I Bacon a rebel and traitor and collected an army of 
'twelve hundred men to seize him. Hearing of Berke- 
I ley's action, Bacon turned back to meet him, but the 
! governor, finding himself deserted by all but a few hun- 
\ dred of his men, sailed away to Accomac, and Bacon 
again proceeded against the Indians. 

While the young leader was fighting the savages in 
the wilderness, Berkeley returned and fortified James- 
town. Besides the capitol building and a church, 
Jamestown at that time contained some sixteen or 
eighteen houses, most of them built of brick but not 
all occupied, since there were not more than a dozen 
families on the island. The inhabitants of the place 
made their living chiefly by keeping boarding-houses 
) for the Burgesses and state officials who had to live at 
the capitol. 
The town was very easy to defend, but Bacon sue- 



106 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

ceeded in taking it by an act which certainly was lack- 
ing in gallantry. He sent soldiers through the neigh- 
boring community to bring to his camp some six or eight 
ladies whose husbands were with Berkeley in the town. 
One of these was sent to inform her husband and the 
other followers of Berkeley that Bacon would place the 
ladies in front of his men if Berkeley should make a sally 
from the town. With these ladies to protect his troops 
Bacon completed his entrenchments and Berkeley's 
soldiers did not dare to fire for fear that they might 
hurt the women. One attempt, however, was made to 
drive Bacon back, and when this failed, Berkeley again 
sailed away to Accomac. Bacon then captured James- 
town and burned the place.* 

Shortly after this, Bacon went into Gloucester county, 
where the people, he had heard, were in sympathy with 
Berkeley. As a test of their allegiance, he called upon 
them to take an oath against Berkeley, and many com- 
plied with this request. While in Gloucester, he was 
taken ill at the house of a friend, Mr. Pate, and here he 
died, the first day of October, 1676. His enemies 

* In August, 1676, Bacon had called a meeting of the people at 
Middle Plantation, now Williamsburg. Here his followers took an 
oath that they would fight with him against Berkeley and the 
Indians. Bacon caused writs of election to be issued for a House 
of Burgesses, and the members chosen held an assembly which 
passed a number of just laws, known as "Bacon's Laws," among 
them one which restored to all freemen the right to vote. 



NATHANIEL BACON. 107 

spread it abroad that he was an excessive drinker and 
that his death was due to this cause; but this report 
was, beyond a doubt, false, and Bacon died probably 
from fever. 

According to all accounts. Bacon was a young man 
of great native gifts and wide culture. He was a very 
persuasive and impressive orator, and had the reputation 
of being able to speak more '^ sense in a few words'' 
than any other man in the colony. 

With Bacon's death, ended the rebellion. Berkeley 
soon secured control of the places which Bacon had 
seized and caused some twenty-three of the latter's fol- 
lowers to be put to death. When William Drummond, 
one of Bacon's commanders, was captured and brought 
before Berkeley, the hard-hearted old tyrant said: '^Mr. 
Drummond, you are very welcome. I am more glad 
to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, 
you shall be hanged in half an hour," and it is reported 
that the sentence was actually carried out inside of 
two hours. 

A very touching story is told about Major Chees- 
man, another of Bacon's men. It is said that when 
the major was brought before the governor, he was 
asked why he had joined Bacon's Rebellion, and, be- 
fore he could make a reply, his wife came in and 
bowed before Governor Berkeley. She declared that she 



108 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. . 

had urged her husband to fight with Bacon, and that 
but for her influence he would not have joined the 
rebelhon. Upon her bended knees, she begged Sir 
Wilham tp hang her instead of her husband. The 
governor, furious with her, called her by an insulting 
name and ordered her husband to be thrown into prison, 
where he soon died from bad treatment. 

Bacon's Rebellion was the first open attempt at lib- 
erty; it was a war against English tyranny as exercised 
by a colonial governor. It took place just a century 
before the Revolution, and when we think proudly of 
Washington, who, at the head of our armies, won for us 
our independence from England, we should not forget 
the first rebel. Bacon, who one hundred years before 
had struck the first blow for liberty. 

Review Questions. 

Tell of Bacon before he came to Virginia. How was he 
received in Virginia? What were the causes of Bacon's 
Rebellion? Tell of the three wonderful natural occurrences. 
Why did Bacon wish to go against the Indians? Why did 
Berkeley refuse to give the commission? Why did he pro- 
claim Bacon a rebel? Tell of Bacon's arrest and pardon. 
Why did Bacon flee from Jamestown? Tell of his return 
and his commission. What kind of place was Jamestown? 
Tell of Bacon's capture of Jamestown. Tell of Bacon's Laws. 
Tell of his death. Give an account of Berkeley's treatment 
of Drummond and Cheesman. Why should we remember 
Bacon? 



NATHANIEL BACON. 109 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Locate Jamestown, Richmond, Wil- 
liamsburg-, West Point, the York, Rappahannock and Pamun- 
key rivers, Accomac county and Grloucester county. How far 
is it from Richmond to Accomac county? How would you 
sail from Jamestown to Accomac county? 



CHAPTER IX. 

JAMES BLAIR. 

1655-1743. 






At the close of Bacon's Rebellion, Virginia settled 
down to a quiet life. The main political events from 
this time to the Revolution were the contests between 
the governors and the colonists. As a rule, the gov- 
ernors were English gentlemen who were in need of 
money, and had come to Virginia to get rich, after which 
they hoped to return home and live in great state. The 
Virginians did not close their eyes to the greed of the 
governors, and time and again the House of Burgesses 
blocked measures which the governors were trying to 
carry in order that they might gain wealth. The 
Burgesses often refused to give a governor a fixed 
salary, and in this way held him in check. In the con- 
stant clash between the governors on the one side, and 
the people on the other, many a statesman was being 
trained to fight for liberty and independence. 

Virginia grew in population and resources. About 
1685 there were twenty counties. The population was 



JAMES BLAIR. 



Ill 



about sixty thousand, containing six thousand negro 
slaves. The only crop for export was tobacco. This 
proved a misfortune for the colonists, for tobacco 
was their money, and when there was an unusually 
large crop, its ex- 
change value naturally 
decreas ed. On the 
other hand, if the crop 
was small, there was 
much suffering. Under 
Lord Culpeper, who was 
governor from 1680 to 
1683, there was much 
dissatisfaction among 
the people because of 
the heavy taxes and 
restrictions on the ex- 
porting of tobacco. 
The planters were re- 
quired to send their tobacco from certain ports 
along the rivers, at which ports a tax of two shillings 
per hogshead was levied on all the tobacco shipped. 
This caused considerable inconvenience to many 
planters, as they were obliged to go to a great deal 
of trouble to load their crops, which had before been 
put on vessels at the planters' own wharves. For these 




LORD CULPEPER. 



112 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

reasons, the tobacco growers decided to resist the gov- 
ernment; not with armed forces, however, but by mak- 
ing an agreement among themselves to cut down their 
tobacco plants and thus to reduce the shipments to 
England. This was called the ^'Tobacco Insurrection," 
and many crops of tobacco were destroyed, chiefly in 
Gloucester county. Culpeper caused many planters 
to be arrested and thrown into jail, and six men were 
actually hanged because they were plant cutters. 

From 1685 to 1743, Virginia had about twelve gov- 
ernors, who were constantly quarreling with the people. 
During these fifty-eight years, the chief opponent of 
the governors was James Blair, a native of Scotland. 
He was a man of good education, having been graduated 
from the University of Edinburgh with the degree of 
Master of Arts. He became a minister of the Episcopal 
Church, after which he moved into England where he 
met Doctor Compton, Bishop of London. The Bishop 
was greatly pleased with young Blair, whom he found 
an energetic and zealous man, and soon spoke to him 
of the great need of good preachers in Virginia and urged 
him to go to that colony. At that time there were few 
good ministers who were willing to go to Virginia. When 
Blair saw the great opportunity which offered itself in 
the New World, he agreed to leave England; and ac- 
cordingly, in 1685, he landed in Virginia. At first he 



JAMES BLAIR. 



113 



took charge of the church in Henrico City, but later he 
became the pastor at Jamestown and in 1710 he accepted 
the charge of Bruton-Parish Church in Wilhamsburg, 




BRUTON — PARISH CHURCH. 



where he remained until- his death in 1743. In four 
years after he had reached Virginia, the Bishop of Lon- 
don made him his representative in the colony, and he 
held this position for fifty years. 

In Virginia, Church and State were connected, which 
meant that there was a church supported and upheld 
by the government of the colony. The established 
church was the Church of England, known as the Epis- 
copal Church. The governor was the head of the colonial 
church, just as the king was the head of the church in 
England. Virginia had no bishop, but since the colony 



114 MAKERS OF VIEGINIA HISTORY. 

had been settled by a company with headquarters in 
London, the Bishop of London was regarded as the 
chief church official in Virginia. Of course, he never 
came to the colony, but sent a representative, called a 
commissary; this title Blair held for fifty years. 

As commissary, he could not ordain ministers, so that 
if any Virginian desired to take orders, he had to go to 
England for ordination by the Bishop. The duties of 
the commissary consisted in visiting the parishes and 
correcting the clergy in their mode of life. He could 
not remove a minister or put one in charge of a parish, 
for these were powers which belonged to the governor 
as head of the church. All the people in the colony 
were taxed to support the church and the ministers 
received an annual salary, fixed by law, in 1696, at six- 
teen thousand pounds of tobacco ($640). 

When Blair became commissary, the colony was in a 
low moral condition. Many of the clergy used pro- 
fane language and were often seen intoxicated. With 
such clergy Commissary Blair had great difficulty to 
advance the cause of religion, but by a determined 
effort he greatly bettered the morals of the church 
during his half a century of service. At the time of 
his arrival in Virginia, there were fifty parishes, of which 
only twenty-two were supplied with ministers. Blair 
set himself to work to improve the ministry and to fill 



JAMES BLAIR. 115 

the twenty-eight vacant parishes. In this cause he 
labored so zealously that at the time of his death 
there were only two vacant churches in the colony. 

While Blair was at the head of the church, other 
religious sects were coming to Virginia. In 1710 there 
were two Presbyterian churches and one Quaker meet- 
ing house, and just before the death of Blair, many 
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians settled the Valley of Virginia. 
They were allowed to hold services according to their 
own belief, though all persons were to be taxed to main- 
tain the established church. 

Blair exercised influence not only upon the religious 
matters but upon the political affairs of the colony. 
He dearly loved Virginia, and put forth his best efforts 
for her welfare. For a long time he was a member of 
the council of Virginia, and finally became its president. 
In the latter position it was his duty to act as governor 
during the absence from the colony of the king's repre- 
sentative. As commissary and member of the council, 
he wielded great power, and it was chiefly through his 
efforts that three governors were removed from office. 

The first governor to rouse the wrath of Blair was 
Andros. This governor had removed Blair from the 
council on the grounds that a Scotchman was not eligible 
to membership in that body. Blair thereupon went to 
England, where he accused the governor of being an 



116 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

enemy to the church, because Andros had made no 
attempt to fill the vacant parishes. Blair presented 
his charges so strongly that the English Board of Trade, 
which represented the king, removed Andros in 1697. 

The next governor to contend with Blair was Sir 
Francis Nicholson. At first the governor and the com- 
missary were warm friends, but Nicholson soon showed 
his disagreeable nature and became a tyrannical gov- 
ernor, refusing to listen to Blair with reference to the 
clergy, or to the council with reference to the affairs of 
Virginia. Nicholson was such a hot-headed man that 
he often spoke of the members of the council as rogues, 
villains and cowards. 

The trouble that brought on the final breach between 
Blair and Nicholson was a love affair. Nicholson had 
fallen passionately in love with a daughter of Major Lewis 
Burwell. ''It completely upset what little reason there 
was in Governor Nicholson.'^ He demanded from 
Major Burwell the hand of his daughter with s much 
air and presumption as the king of England would have 
done, but the major refused his consent. Nicholson 
lost all self-control and swore to Blair that ''if the girl 
married some other man, he would cut the throat of 
three men: the bridegroom, the minister, and the jus- 
tice who issued the license.'^ Finally Nicholson con- 
cluded that James Blair's brother, Archibald, w^as his 



JAMES BLAIK. 117 

rival, so one day he sent for Dr. Blair and said, ''Sir, 
your brother is a villain and you have betrayed me. 
Mr. Blair, take notice; I vow to the eternal God that 
I will be revenged on you and all your family." It is 
said that Nicholson went so far as to distribute pistols 
to the students of William and Mary College with the 
instruction that they should shoot Dr. Blair, their 
president. Blair went to England, brought charges 
against Nicholson and had him removed from office 
(1705). 

A third governor made to feel the strength of Blair 
was Alexander Spotswood, who determined to appoint 
ministers without consulting the vestrymen in the par- 
ishes. Blair complained bitterly and the Virginia clergy 
were called to consider the case. They decided in 
favor of Spotswood, but Blair would not yield. He went 
to England and accused Spotswood, not only of assum- 
ing too many rights in connection with church affairs, 
but of trying to destroy the power of the council in 
Virginia. Spotswood replied by stating that Blair 
allowed the churches to go without ministers and even 
appointed laymen to read the services, though preachers 
could be secured. Spotswood had such strong support, 
that at one time it looked as if he w^ould defeat the old 
commissary, but the people stood behind Blair, and the 
Board of Trade removed Spotswood (1722). Thus three 



118 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

governors were forced to lay down the reins of govern- 
ment through Blair's influence. 

Blair's great work, however, was the e.tablishment of 
a college. When he came to Virginia, there were no pub- 
lic schools, and every large planter had his children taught 
by a tutor. Sir William Berkeley, as you remember, had 
written with delight that there was in his time no free 
school in Virginia. An attempt had been made in 1619 
to establish a college at Henrico, but the Indian mas- 
sacre of 1622 prevented the enterprise from becoming 
a success. In 1690, when Blair set himself to work 
to build a college, there was no endowed school in the 
colony. Blair's idea was to found a college where men 
could be educated for the ministry, because he knew 
that Virginia would never have better preachers unless 
some were trained in the colony. He also had in mind 
the educating and Christianizing of the Indians.* Still 
another object in establishing a college was to educate 
the young men of Virginia, many of whom could not 
go to England for an education, though some went to 
Oxford and Cambridge universities. 

Blair's task was a difficult one. At first the people 
and the House of Burgesses would not listen to him, 

* One purpose named in the charter of King James of 1606 was to 
Christianize the Indians, and from time to time throughout colonial 
history certain ministers preached to the Indians. Blair believed that 
the best way to make Christians of the Indians was to educate them. 



JAMES BLAIE. 



119 



but finally the latter body addressed a petition to 
William and Mary, the sovereigns of England, asking 
that a college be established in the colony. Blair went 
to England to secure a charter and to raise the money 
necessary to put up a building. England was in the 
midst of a great war with France, and the leading men 
would not hear Blair, but still he persevered. He called 
on the queen, who welcomed him and approved of his 
plan, and later he got an audience with the king. He 
pleaded his cause in such a manly and sincere way that 
King William said to him, ' ^ Sir, I am glad that the colony 




A VIEW OF THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY. 

is upon so good a design, and I will promote it to the 
best of my power. ^' The king and queen gave him 
about two thousand pounds ($10,000) in money . The col- 



120 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

lege was endowed with twenty thousand acres of land on 
the Pamunkey River, and a tax of one cent a pound was 
levied on all tobacco shipped from Virginia and Mary- 
land to the other colonies. On February 19, 1693, the 
royal charter was granted, and in honor of the sover- 
eigns the college was called, ''William and Mary." 

In England opposition soon arose to the use of 
any of the king's revenue for a college. When Blair 
went with King William's order to Attorney-General 
Seymour for the charter, he was asked what was the 
need of a college in Virginia. Blair replied that there 
were souls to be saved in Virginia as well as in England, 
and that the college was to educate men for the ministry. 
Seymour replied that the colonists did not need to give 
their time to saving souls, but to making tobacco. 
This answer showed that the people of England looked 
on Virginia only as a country where tobacco was to be 
raised to enrich the English merchants and to bring in 
a revenue to the English government. 

Blair returned to Virginia with his charter, and it was 
decided to build the college at Middle Plantation, to which 
the name of Williamsburg was given about this time.* 

* Jamestown was regarded as a very unhealthful place, and at that 
time contained only four or five inhabited houses. About five years 
after the college was established at Williamsburg, the capitol was 
removed from Jamestown to Williamsburg. Francis Nicholson was 
then governor of the colony. 



JAMES BLAIPw 



121 



Blair was selected president of the institution, and re- 
mained in this position for fifty years. The first 
college building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, 
the architect of St. 



Paul's Cathedral in 
London. 

The first com- 
mencement of the 
college was held in 
1700/' at wMch there 
was a great concourse 
of people. Several 
planters came thither 
in coaches and others 
in sloops from New 
York, Pennsylvania 
and Maryland, it be- 
ing a new thing in 
that part of America to hear graduates perform their 
I exercises. The Indians themselves had curiosity, some 
of them, to visit Williamsburg on that occasion, and 
the whole country rejoiced, as if they had some relish 

I 

I of learning.'^ Four years later the college building 
was destroyed by fire; but Blair bravely worked on 
till the college was rebuilt. Later, from the halls of 
this college went forth many great statesmen, among 




From a jwinting by Kneller. 

SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN. 



122 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

whom were Jefferson, Marshall, Monroe and Tyler. 
Blair died on April 18th, 1744, being eighty-eight 
years of age. To the college he willed his library and 
five hundred pounds ($2,500). He was buried at James- 
town and in the long Latin inscription upon his tomb- 
stone, it was said: '^He had a handsome person and in 
the family circle blended cheerfulness with piety. He was 
a generous friend to the poor and was prompt in lending 
assistance to all who needed it. He was a liberal bene- 
factor of the college during his life and at his death be- 
queathed to it his library with the hope that his books, 
which were mostly religious, might lead the student to 
those thinffs which lead to salvation.^' 

Review Questions. 

What were the main pohtical events in Virginia from 
Bacon's RebelUon to the Revolution? What was the size of 
Virginia in 1685? Tell of Culpeper and the Tobacco In- 
surrection. Tell of Blair's life before he came to Virginia. 
What was the relation of Church and State in Virginia? 
Why was Blair called commissary? Tell ' how Blair im- 
proved the religious condition of the colony. Tell of his 
controversy with Governor Andros. What kind of man 
was Nicholson? Why was he removed from the governor- 
ship? Tell of Blair's quarrel with Spotswood and its results. 
Why did Blair want a college in Virginia? Tell how he 
succeeded in establishing one. Tell of Blair's will. 

Geography Study. 

Map of Scotland. — Find Edinburgh. — Map of Virginia. 
Locate Henrico county and Williamsburg. What counties 
lie between the James and York rivers? 



CHAPTER X. 
ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD. 

1676-1740. 

In the early 
part of the eigh- 
teenth century, 
the Earl of Ork- 
ney was ap- 
pointed gover- 
nor of Virginia, 
which position 
he h e 1 d . f o r 
nearly forty 
years; but since 
he never came 
to the colony he 
was represented 
by a deputy who 
had the title of lieutenant-governor. His most promi- 
nent representative was Alexander Spotswood. 

Spotswood was born in 1676, at Tangier in Northern 




From an old painting. 

ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD 



12i MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Africa. His father^ Robert Spotswood, a physician to 
the governor and garrison of Tangier, was of a promi- 
nent Scotch family. From his childhood Alexander was 
familiar with military life. Entering the English army, 
he rose from an ensign through the various offices until 
he became a lieutenant-colonel. He served under the 
great Duke of Marlborough at the battle of Blenheim, 
in Germany, and was there wounded. He came to 
Virginia in 1710, and was lieutenant-governor for twelve 
years. 

Spotswood was a man of considerable learning, and 
had a good library and some fine mathematical instru- 
ments, which he left at his death to William and Mary 
College. He also aided Blair in raising the money to re- 
build William and Mary College, which, as you know, 
was burned several years before he came to Virginia, 
and secured for the college a grant from the House of 
Burgesses for one thousand pounds ($5,000). Like 
Blair he desired to educate the Indians, and for this pur- 
pose he erected a school at Fort Christanna on the 
south side of the Meherrin River in what is now South- 
ampton county. This fort was surrounded by palisades 
and in the enclosure were five houses, each of which was 
defended by one cannon. The Rev. Charles Griffin was 
appointed to conduct this school, and in 1715 there were 
seventy-seven Indians under his care. One of the old 



ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD. 125 

cannon from Fort Christanna is still in existence and is 
preserved on the campus of William and Mary College. 

A story is told of a trip which Governor Spotswood 
made to Christanna. The Indians of that section, called 
Saponeys, numbered about two hundred. They were 
under the government of twelve old men. When Spots- 
wood was on a visit to the Fort these old men met him, 
and laying several skins at his feet, bowed themselves to 
the ground. They informed the governor that fifteen 
of their young men had been killed by some Indians 
called the Genitoes, and secured the governor's per- 
mission to go against these Indians and kill fifteen war- 
riors in retaliation. " Sixty young men next made their 
appearance with feathers in their hair and run through 
their ears, their faces painted in blue and vermillion, 
their hair cut in fantastic forms^ some looking like 
cocks' comb, and they had blue and red blankets 
wrapped around them. This was their war dress, and 
it made them look like furies. Next came the young 
women, with long straight black hair reaching down to 
the waist, with a blanket tied around them and hanging 
down like a petticoat . . . These Indians greased their 
bodies and heads with bear's oil, which, with the smoke 
of their cabins, gave them a disagreeable odor. They 
looked wild and were mighty shy of an Englishman." 

At the time of Spotswood's arrival in Virginia, there 



126 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

were twenty-five counties containing a population of 
about seventy-two thousand whites and about twenty- 
three thousand negroes. Wihiamsburg was the cap- 
ital. It was a long town; its main street was called 
the Duke of Gloucester Street. At one end was sit- 
uated William and Mary College, and at the other 
end, three-quarters of a mile distant, was the old cap- 
itol, where the General Assembly met from time to time 
to deliberate upon the affairs of the colony. 

The country was not in a prosperous condition. All 
along the coast were bands of pillaging pirates. As the 
price of tobacco, the main product, had greatly de- 
clined, the colony was seriously hampered in its re- 
sources. 

Although Spotswood's arrival in Virginia was greeted 
with joy, in a little while he and the House of Burgesses 
were quarreling. He wanted the General Assembly 
to raise heavy taxes to provide better defences for the 
colony against Indians and pirates. Moreover, his 
desire was to educate the Indians at William and 
Mary College. For such purposes money was needed, 
and the members of the House of Burgesses did not 
readily vote it, for they were anxious to be relieved from 
all connection with the Indians, and preferred to drive 
them into the western lands. 

Spotswood also complained that the Burgesses were 




ALEXANDER SPOTS WOOD. 127 

men of ''mean understanding" and without any public 
spirit. In writing to the Board of Trade, he stated that 
on account of the ignorance of the Burgesses none of their 
committees had a chairman who could ''spell English 
or write common sense.'' In his 
opinion this state of affairs was 
due to the fact that so many 

.1 1 1 xl • 1 J. X THE AUTOGRAPH OF 

unworthy persons had the right to 

'^ ^ ° SPOTSWOOD. 

vote, and that they elected men 

of their own class. A man who had so much as half an 
acre of land could vote. On Spotswood's representa- 
tion, the Board of Trade instructed him to use his in- 
fluence to raise the qualifications of a voter so that no 
man could vote unless he had a good landed estate. 
On one occasion, in making a speech dissolving the 
House of Burgesses, Spotswood said: "The true interest 
of your country is not what you have troubled your 
heads about.'' Believing that the Burgesses were 
trying to please the "ignorant population," he said, 
"If you have excused yourselves to them, you matter 
not how you stand before God, your prince or judicious 
men, or before any others to whom you think you owe 
not your elections." 

We are not to take Governor Spotswood at his word, 
for he was an old soldier, and wished everything done 
with military regularity. He did not understand Vir- 



128 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

ginia conditions so well as the people who lived there — 
a fault common to all the English governors. Finding 
that the Burgesses would not obey him as did the sol- 
diers, whom he had commanded in the field, and that he 
had no power to force them to obedience, he spent his 
anger in abusing them. 

When Spotswood became governor of Virginia, few 
settlements had been made outside of the Tidewater 
region. Generally speaking, a line drawn from Alex- 
andria, through Fredericksburg, Eichmond and Peters- 
burg, to North Carolina, marked the western limit of 
the occupation of Virginia by the English. Some 
pioneers, however, had pushed into the wilderness and 
settled there, while others had explored to the foot of 
the Blue Ridge Mountains, but so far as we know, none 
of the Virginians had crossed the Blue Ridge and looked 
into the beautiful valley which lies between that ridge 
and the rugged Alleghanies. 

About the first of August, 1716, Governor Spotswood 
determined to cross the Blue Ridge. With some mem- 
bers of his staff he left Williamsburg and drove in his 
coach to Germanna, near Fredericksburg. Here he left 
his coach and with other gentlemen who joined him, 
proceeded on horse along the Rappahannock River, 
and in thirty-six days from the time he left Williams- 
burg, he scaled the mountains near Swift Run Gap. 



ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD. 



129 



The company descended the mountains on the west 
side and reached the Shenandoah River. ^'Proceeding 
by the river, they found a place where it is fordable, 
crossed it, and there on the western bank, the governor 
formally took possession for King George I. of England. 
After eight weeks, he returned to Williamsburg, having 
traveled in all four hundred and forty miles.'' 




GOVERNOR SPOTSWOOD AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE 
CROSSING THE BLUE RIDGE. 



It is hard for us to believe that less than two hundred 
years ago, when Spotswood entered the beautiful valley 
of Virginia, it was the haunt of bears, wolves, panthers, 
wild cats and buffaloes. The Indians did not live there, 
but preserved it for their hunting grounds. Those 



130 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

who accompanied Spotswood on the famous expedition 
have been known in history as the Knights of the Golden 
Hopseshoe. At that time in eastern Virginia, on account I 
of the sandy soil, few horseshoes were used; but, when 
Spotswood and his expedition set out from Fredericks- 
burg over the rocky, untraveled wilderness, it was found 
necessary that the horses should be shod. Upon the 
return from his journey, the governor presented '^each 
of his companions with a golden horseshoe, . . . 
covered with valuable stones resembling heads of nails 
with the inscription on one side, ^ Sic juvat transcendere 
montes/''* The climbing of the mountains was re- 
garded in those days as a dangerous and wonderful 
undertaking, and it was noised abroad throughout the 
colony. 

In this expedition was an ensign in the British army, 
John Fontaine, who wrote an account of the trip. After 
telling of crossing the Shenandoah River, he said, '^It 
is very deep. The main course of the water is north. 
It is four score yards wide in the narrowest part. We 
drank some health on the other side and returned, after 
which I went a swimming in it. . . . I got some 
grasshoppers and fish, and another and I, we catched a 
dish of fish, some perch, and a kind of fish they call chub. 

* This Latin inscription means : "Thus it delights to cross the 
mountains." 



ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD. 131 

The others went a hunting and killed deer and tur- 
keys. ... I graved my name on a tree by the river 
side, and the governor buried a bottle with a paper en- 
closed on which he writ that he took possession of this 
place in the name and for King George I. of England.'^ 

All of this great valley including the country between 
Fredericksburg and the mountains was made a part of 
Essex county, but four years later it was organized as 
the county of Spotsylvania (Spotswood-land), named 
in honor of the governor. Glowing reports of this 
country were circulated and in a few years settlers 
were entering the valley. Forty thousand acres of 
land near where Winchester now stands were granted 
by Governor Gooch in 1730 to two Pennsylvania 
brothers, John and Isaac Van Meter. Their grant 
was bought by another Pennsylvanian, Joyst Hite, 
who removed his family to Virginia in 1732, and fixed 
his residence a few miles south of the present town of 
Winchester. Hite is generally believed to have been 
the first white man to settle in the valley. In a few 
years came many Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, a splendid 
body of settlers, who made the valley one of the most 
prosperous parts of Virginia. 

In spite of Spotswood's trouble with the House of 
Burgesses and Commissary Blair, he made a good gov- 
ernor. He put down piracy in the Chesapeake Bay 



■\ 



132 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



and in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina. Spotswood 
sent an expedition against the pirate John Teach, 
known as Blackbeard. The pirate's vessel was dis- 
covered in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina, where a 
battle was fought. Blackbeard had instructed his 




From an old print. 

THE OLD CAPITOL AT WILLIAMSBURG, 



men to blow up the vessel by putting a match to the 
powder magazine if it were discovered that his ship 
was going to be captured. Before this order could be 
carried out, his ship was boarded, and Blackbeard with 
many of his followers was killed. 

When Spotswood was removed from the governor- 
ship, he went to Germanna, where he had planted a set- 
tlement of German Protestants. Sometime before this, 
he had obtained for himself grants of land in what is 
now Spotsylvania, Orange and Culpeper counties, num- 



ALEXANDER SPOTSWOOD. 133 

bering in all about eighty-five thousand acres of land. 
Upon his tract in Spotsylvania he discovered iron ore, 
which he began to work. Spotswood was the first 
person to establish a regular furnace in North America. 
He had four furnaces at Germanna, from which he sent 
iron to Great Britain. Spotswood also established an 
air furnace at Massaponnax in Spotsylvania county, 
where he made stove backs, andirons and other useful 
things. Colonel William Byrd called Spotswood the 
''Tubal Cain of Virginia," after the first man whom the 
Bible mentions as having worked in iron. 

In 1730, Spotswood was made deputy-postmaster for 
the colonies and he it was who appointed Benjamin 
Franklin as postmaster for the Province of Pennsylvania. 
Soon after this he was knighted; and in 1740 he was 
appointed a major-general in the English army to com- 
mand troops in an attack upon Carthagena in South 
America. He joined his troops at Annapolis, Maryland, 
and was about to sail, when he died on the seventh of 
June, 1740. It is probable that he lies buried in An- 
napolis, though it has been claimed by some that his 
body was brought to Virginia and buried at Yorktown. 

There are many prominent families in Virginia that 
claim descent from Governor Spotswood. His name 
will always be remembered as the first English man 
to cross the Blue Ridge Mountains, and to develop the 



134 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

iron industry. The twelve years of his governorship 
were full of energy, and much was done for the better- 
ment of the colony. 

Review Questions. 

Who was the Earl of Orkney? Tell of Spotswood's early 
life. How did he help learning? Tell about the Indian school 
at Fort Christanna. Describe the Indians. Tell of the size 
of the colony. What kind of town was Williamsburg? 
What was Spotwood's opinion of the House of Burgesses? 
Where were all the settlements in 1720? Describe Spots- 
wood's journey across the Blue Ridge. Tell what Fontaine 
said of his experience. Who were the Knights of the Grolden 
Horseshoe? Who were the first settlers in the Valley? How 
did Spotswood treat the pirates? Why was Spotswood called 
the "Tubal Cain of Virginia? " Tell of his death? What 
kind of man was he ? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Africa. — Find Tangier. Map of Virginia. — Find 
Southampton county, Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Rich- 
mond, Petersburg, Winchester, Orange county, Essex 
county, Spotsylvania county, Culpeper county, Swift Run 
Gap and the Shenandoah River. Trace the Blue Ridge and 
Alleghany Mountains. 



CHAPTER XI. 



WILLIAM BYRD, JR. 

; 1674-1744. 

Much has been said about the grandeur of colonial 
1 life. On account of the easy acquisition of land and of 
I the growth of the institution of slavery, the Virginia 
j planter was enabled to lead a life 
I of freedom and hospitality. 
I As a rule, the plantations con- 
tained not less than one thou- 
sand acres of land, and many 
planters had much larger estates. 
On every estate was the man- 
sion house, which was usually 
built of wood, but sometimes of 
brick. The first brick houses 
were constructed about the time 
that Sir William Berkeley be- 
came governor. The houses contained from four to 
six rooms. Governor Berkeley's brick mansion at 
Green Springs had six rooms, while William Fitzhugh's 
home in Northern Neck, between the Rappahannock and 




A COLONIAL CHAIR. 



136 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



Potomac rivers, contained thirteen rooms. For a long 
time the windows of most of the houses had no glass, 
but were only lattice panels. The rich planters, how- 
ever, ordered glass from England. The rooms were 

heated with great 
fireplaces guarded by 
fenders of brass. 
The furniture was 
plain, and the bed- 
steads were tall and 
large, surrounded by 
curtains. The table- 
ware consisted of 
plates of earthen- 
ware, sometimes of 
wood, but more fre- 
quently of pewter. 
China, and silver spoons and forks, imported from Eng- 
land, were found only in the homes of the wealthy. 

The men wore clothes made of velvets and serge, blue, 
red, yellow and green being favorite colors. Their 
trousers came onl}^ to the knee, and their stockings were 
of silk, worsted or cotton. Their shoes were usually 
low quarters with buckles of brass, steel or silver. Boots 
were in common use, as they protected the legs in riding, 
and most of the planters lived constantly on horseback. 




A PLATE OF THE PERIOD, THE NAMES OP 
THE STATES FORMING THE BORDER. 



WILLIAM BYRD, JR. ' 137 

The men wore wigs, and had tall caps or hats often in 
the shape of steeples. The coats of the well-dressed were 
trimmed with lace, and had buttons of pewter or silver. 

The wives of the wealthy planters dressed hand- 
somely, quite as magnificently as the women of high 
social standing in England. Many of the dresses were 
made of a flowered silk and were trimmed with lace. 
The usual costume of a well-dressed woman was a 
handsome silk gown with silk petticoat of the same 
color, green silk stockings, a bonnet trimmed with lace, 
and thread gloves. Around the neck was worn a scarf 
of many colors. Pearl necklaces, gold and silver ear- 
rings, bracelets and finger rings were the kinds of jew- 
elry in general use. 

Virginia hospitality in colonial days consisted of great 
abundance, rather than oF great variety. Beef, mutton 
and pork were the chief foods. A decanter of whiskey or 
wine always sat on the sideboard, and every large 
planter had a well-filled wine cellar. We read of one 
gentleman who ordered at one time twelve hundred 
gallons of rum. Probably the most popular drink in 
Virginia was apple cider. Drunkenness was the chief 
vice in colonial days, and many laws were passed 
against it. But the laws applied to the middle-class, 
rather than to the well-to-do, for though the prominent 
planters drank freely, they were not drunkards. 



138 



:MAKERS of VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



The chief amusements were cock-fighting, fox-hunt- 
ing and horse-racing. Frequently great balls were 
given, and they Avere attended by planters from long 
distances. The center of social life was Williamsburg, 
and the governor was the leader in the social events. 
All the great planters with their wives and daughters 
looked with delight to the time when they might at- 
tend a ball at the 
governor's palace. 

The personal prop- 
erty of a wealthy 
planter was worth in 
our money from three 
to five thousand dol- 
lars, while his real 
estate was worth from 
twenty thousand to 
one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars. It 
is probable that the 
estate of William 
Byrd, Jr., was worth 
as much as three 
hundred thousand dollars. Robert Beverley's property 
was estimated at two hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars; and in 1725, there were probably one hun- 




KING CARTER. 



WILLIAM BYRD, JR. 139 

clred planters in Virginia who were worth more than 
fifty thousand dollars. Robert Carter, known as King 
Carter, owned over three hundred thousand acres of 
land, and had at the time of his death fifty thousand 
dollars in money. He also owned twelve hundred 
slaves. Before 1700 the slave population was com- 
paratively small, but by 1740, in a population of about 
one hundred and twenty thousand, there were as many 
as forty thousand slaves. 

Among the best-known planters of the early part of 
the eighteenth century was William Byrd, who lived in 
Charles City county at the magnificent estate known as 
Westover. Byrd was born in Virginia in 1674. Before 
he was ten years of age he was sent for his education 
to England, where he remained until he was twenty-two 
years old. He also studied in Holland and France, but 
most of the time he lived in London, where he studied 
law and was admitted to the bar. In 1696 he came 
back to Virginia, and was elected a member of the 
! House of Burgesses from Henrico county. He again 
went to England to represent Governor Andros in 
\ his answer to the charges of Commissary Blair, but 
j he was no match for Blair, and lost his case. A little 
later he was elected by the Virginia House of Burgesses 
at the salary of one hundred pounds ($500), as the agent 
of the colony in London. While living in London he 



140 



MAKEES OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



led a life of gayety and became acquainted with many 
of the literary men of England. At this time, through 
the influence of his friend, Sir Robert Southwell, Presi- 
dent of the Royal 
Society, Byrd was 
made a fellow of that 
body. He was the 
first American to re- 
ceive this distinction. 
Byrd's love for liter- 
ature and learning 
caused him to collect 
a magnificent library 
containing more than 
four thousand vol- 
umes. 

On the death of his 
father in 1704, Byrd 
returned to Virginia. 
By his father's will, he was sole heir of the large estates, 
and he at once took possession of them. In 1708 he 
was appointed by Queen Anne a member of the council, 
which position he held till his death. He was president 
of the council for one year, after the death of Blair, 
and at one time was receiver-general of the colony. 
Grovernor Spotswood, on coming to Virginia, desired 




EVELYN BYRD. 



WILLIAM BYRD, JR. 



141 



to have absolute charge of the affairs of the colony. 
Byrd, as receiver-general, looked after the collecting of 
the king's revenues, and the system in use was not satis- 
factory to Spotswood. 
Thus Spotswood and 
Byrd were brought 
into a dispute which 
was referred to the 
Board of Trade in 
London. About this 
time, Byrd, having 
gone .to England on 
private business, had 
the opportunity of 
pleading his cause be- 
fore the Board of 
Trade, which at first 
was favorable to his 
side, but soon began 

to lean toward Spotswood. The governor, feeling that 
he was the victor, asked that Byrd and also his 
friends, Commissary Blair and Philip Ludwell, be re- 
moved from the council. The board declined to re- 
move these gentlemen, though Byrd had to promise to 
make peace with the governor. After five years' ab- 
sence, Byrd returned to Virginia in 1720, and at once he 




COLONEL WILLIAM BYRD, JR. 



142 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

and the other members of the council made friends with 
Spotswood and agreed to bury the past. The same year 
Byrd returned to England as agent of the House of Bur- 
gesses, and was absent from the colony for another five 
years. On arriving in Virginia in 1726, he resumed his 
seat in the Council, and spent the rest of his life in the 
colony, taking a deep interest in its affairs. 

In 1727 Byrd was one of the commissioners to run 
the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina, 
and as a result of his experiences, he wrote a charm- 
ing book, which you should read. Soon after this he 
wrote another book called '^The Journey to the Land 
of Eden."* 

In his later years, Byrd devoted his time entirely 
to his plantation. He experimented with new vari- 
eties of fruit and studied the medical properties of 
many plants. To the twenty-six thousand acres of 
land which he inherited from his father he gradually 

* About the time that Byrd was writing the Virginia Gazette, 
the first newspaper in Virginia, was published. The enterprise was 
begun at the suggestion of several gentlemen, of whom Byrd was 
probably one. In the edition of 1736 occurred a notice of a play at 
the theater, and the following notice of the college: "The president, 
masters and scholars of William and Mary College went, according to 
their annual custom, in a body to the Governor's to present his Honor 
with two copies of Latin verses. The president delivered the verses to 
his Honor, and two of the young men spoke them. It is further ob- 
served there were upwards of sixty scholars present; a much greater 
number than has been any year before since the foundation of the 
college." 



■L 



WILLIAM BYRD, JR. 148 

added immense tracts which by the time of his 

death amounted to one hundred and eighty thousand 

acres of the best lands in Virginia. The extent of 

Byrd's personal wealth is not known, because his will 

has been lost, but it is probable that he owned many 

slaves and other personal property. The brick mansion 

at Westover was handsomely furnished with furniture 

that had been brought from England, and there was a 

: great abundance of fine portraits and expensive silver- 

. ware. 

i 

I Through Byrd's influence the towns of Richmond and 

Petersburg were established. Richmond was laid off 

i in 1733 near the falls of James River on property owned 

I by Byrd. He offered the lots for sale on reasonable 

i 

I terms, provided that houses should be built on them in 

1 three-years' time. The city, which received its name 

\ 

j from the town of Richmond, not far from London, 

England, was chartered as a town in 1742. Petersburg 

was laid off about the same time and named for Peter 

Jones. These sites were selected because they were at 

the head of navigation on the James and Appomattox 

rivers. 

Byrd was a delightful and witty writer and his books 

are still charming reading. From his writings one gets 

a good account of the social life of the time. In a book 

which he called, ^'A Progress to the Mines," he de- 



144 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



scribed a journey from Westover to Germanna, where 
Governor Spotswood lived. Of his arrival at Germanna 
he wrote: ''Here I arrived about three o'clock and 
found only Mrs. Spotswood at home, who received her 
old acquaintance with 




many a gracious 
smile. I was carried 
into a room elegantly 
set off wdth pier 
glasses the largest of 
which came soon 
after to an odd mis- 
fortune. Amongst 
other strange ani- 
mals that cheered 
this lady's solitude, a 
brace of tame deer 
ran familiarly about 

the house, and one of them came to stare at me as a 
stranger. But unluckily spying his own figure in the 
glass, he made a spring over the tea table that stood 
under it and shattered the glass to pieces, and falling 
back upon the tea table made a terrible fracas among 
the china." 

After remaining with Governor Spotswood for a week, 
during which time he visited the iron works of the 






THE COAT OF ARMS OF COLONEL BYRD. 



'4 



WILLIAM BYRD, JR. ' 145 

governor, Byrd began his homeward trip and toward 
evening arrived at Fredericksburg, of which town the 
only inhabitants were Colonel Willis, a merchant, a 
tailor, a smith and an inn-keeper. Byrd spent the 
night with Colonel Willis, and the next day he pro- 
ceeded to Major Ben Robinson's. ''The major received 
us with his usual good humor. He had a very indus- 
trious wife who has kept him from sinking by the weight 
of gaming and idleness, but he is now reformed from 
these ruinous qualities, and by the help of a clerk's 
place in a quarrelsome county (Caroline) will soon be 
able to clear his old scores. We drank exceedingly good 
cider here, the juice of the white apple, which made us 
talkative until ten o'clock, and then I was conducted to 
a bed-chamber in which there was neither chair nor 
table." The next morning he had toast and cider for 
breakfast and started on his journey. ''In about ten 
miles," Byrd reached Caroline Courthouse where Col- 
onel Armistead and Colonel Beverly had "each of them 
erected an ordinary well supplied with wine and other 
polite liquors for the worshipful bench. Such liberal 
supplies of strong drink often make Justice nod and 
drop the scales out of her hands." 

Two days later Byrd reached his plantation in King 
William county, where he found his overseers hard at 

work. For one night he stopped at the home of Mrs. Sym, 
10 



146 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

a portly widow, who at first thought the colonel was a 
lover. She was "si person of a lively and cheerful dis- 
position, with much less reserve than most of her 
country women. It becomes her very well, and sets 
off her other agreeable qualities to advantage.'' For 
supper she gave Byrd '^a bottle of honest port'' and a 
broiled chicken. 

From here he went to another plantation where Rich- 
mond now stands. Byrd was something of a doctor 
and fearing that some of his people at this plantation 
might become sick, he left the following prescription: 
'^To let them blood immediately about eight ounces; 
the next day to give them a close of Indian physic 
and to repeat the dose the day following, unless the 
symptoms have abated. In the meantime they should 
eat nothing but chicken broth and poached eggs and 
drink nothing but a quarter of a pint of milk boiled with 
a quart of water, and medicated with a little mullen 
root or that of the pricky pear." 

In his ^^ History of the Dividing Line,"* Byrd has 
given some very interesting accounts of North Carolina. 
He said: ''Surely there is no place in the world where 
the inhabitants live with less labor than in North Caro- 
lina. The men for their parts, just like the Indians, 
impose all the work on the poor women. They make 

* For Byrd's Works, see Bassett's " Writings of Col. William Byrd." 



WILLIAM BYRD, JR. 147 

their wives rise out of their beds early in the morning, 
at the same time that they He and snore until the sun 
has run one-third of his course. Then, after stretching 
and yawning half an hour, they light their pipes and 
venture out into the open air, though if it happens to 
be ever so little cold, they quickly return shivering to 
the chimney corner. When the weather is mild, they 
stand leaning with both their arms upon the cornfield 
fence and gravely consider whether they had best go 
and take a small heat at the hoe, but generally find 
reasons to put it off until another time. Most of the 
rum they get in this country comes from New England 
and is so bad and unwholesome, that it is not improp- 
erly called '^Kill devil." It is distilled there from 
foreign molasses. Their molasses comes from the same 
country (New England) and has the name of ^^long 
sugar" in North Carolina, I suppose from the ropiness 
of it, and serves all the purposes of sugar both in their 
eating and drinking." Byrd has told many other in- 
teresting things which you should know. The extracts 
quoted from his books will give you some idea, however, 
of the way in which he wrote, and at the same time 
some information about the life of the times. Much of 
Byrd's time was spent in collecting books, and he also 
wrote many interesting letters to his prominent friends 
in England. 



148 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



William Byrd died in 1744 and was buried in the 
garden at Westover. He was a splendid representative 
of the old Virginian, being a man of fine education 
and scholarly attainments, with a deep interest in 




THE TOMB OP WILLIAM BYRD. 

the politics and development of his colony. At West- 
over, he lived like an English lord, and entertained 
the planters from all parts of Virginia. His home 
was known for its hospitality, elegance and good 
company. 



Review Questions. 

Give an account of colonial plantations and homes. How 
did the people dress? What were their amusements? Who ^ 



WILLIAM BYKD, JR. 149 

was " King Carter? " Give an account of William Byrd's life. 
Tell of his property. What books did he write? Tell of his 
trip to Germanna, and his return. What does he say about 
the North Carolinans? What offices did he hold? What kind 
of a man was Byrd? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Eappahannock, Potomac, James 
and Appomattox rivers, Charles City county, Spottsylvania 
county, Caroline county, King William county, Richmond, 
Petersburg and Fredericksburg. 




CHAPTER XII. 
ANDREW LEWIS. 

1720(?)-1781. 

A SHORT while after Joyst Hite settled near where Win- 
chester now stands, then a part of Spotsylvania county, 
John Lewis came with his family into the upper Valley, 
and settled in the present Augusta county. 

Lewis was an Irishman, of the rank of a gentleman, 
and his wife, Margaret Lynn, was of noble ancestry 
In Ireland, he lived on the property of a cruel lord, who, 
becoming jealous of the prosperity of his tenant, tried 
to make Lewis give up his lease. When the latter re- 
fused, the nobleman came with some men, attacked 
Lewis's house, and firing upon it without notice, killed 
an invalid brother. This so enraged Lewis that, with 
his servants, he killed the nobleman and his steward. 
He thereupon fled from Ireland, came to America, and 
was the first white man to settle in Augusta county. 
His home was only a few miles from Stanton, which 
city he founded. 

Soon after Lewis had settled in the Valley^ he visited 



ANDREW LEWIS. 



151 



Williamsburg, where he met with Benjamin Borden, 
who, greatly pleased with Lewis's accounts of the Valley, 
decided to cross the Blue Ridge and to explore that 
region. At that time buffaloes roamed in the Valley, 
and one day the sons of John Lewis caught a little 




A settler's hut in the SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 



buffalo calf which they presented to Borden. On 
eturning to Williamsburg, Borden gave it to Governor 

Gooch, who was so delighted with this unusual pet that 
he authorized Borden to take up five hundred thousand 
acres of land at the headwaters of the Shenandoah and 
James rivers (Augusta and Rockbridge counties), on 
the condition that he would send settlers into the Valley. 



152 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Borden at once brought colonists from England, and 
soon there were thriving settbments in this region, then 
a part of Orange county. In 1738 the country west of 
the Blue Ridge was organized into two counties: one 
called Frederick, and the other Augusta.* 

The early inhabitants of the Valley were chiefly Irish 
Presbyterians, who, being of Scotch extraction, were 
called Scotch-Irish. Though everybody in Virginia 
was supposed to conform to the Church of Eugland, yet 
in order that settlements might be encouraged in the 
western part of Virginia, Governor Gooch allowed these 
Presbyterians to build homes in the Valley without mo- 
lestation. They made a splendid defence for the fron- 
tier, and as a people were ' ' firm, enterprising, hardy and 
brave. '^ Being violently opposed to any form of tyr- 
anny, they were among the first to take an active part 
against the king at the time of the Revolution. 

The Lewises were Scotch-Irish, and their lives clearly 
indicate what type of men they were. The eldest son 
of John Lewis was Thomas, who, on account of his poor 
eyesight, could not take part in the Indian wars which 
harassed the settlers on the frontier. He was, however, 
a man of prominence in Augusta, which county he rep- 

* Augusta then included all the territory now embraced in south- 
west Virginia and the seven states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, though as yet no pioneers 
had crossed the Alleghanies. 



ANDREW LEWIS. 153 

resented in the House of Burgesses, when he voted in 
favor of Patrick Henry's famous resolutions of 1765 
opposing the Stamp Act. He was a member of the Con- 
stitutional Convention that formed the first Virginia 
constitution and of the convention which ratified the 
constitution of the United States in 1788. His home 
was in that part of Augusta which was made into Rock- 
ingham county in 1778. 

Another son of John was William, who fought in 
many wars against the Indians, and was an officer in 
the Revolutionary army, when Tarleton drove the Vir- 
ginia legislature rom Charlottesville. At that time 
William Lewis was unable to go to the defence of his 
state on accoun of sickness, but his wife told her three 
sons, who were only thirteen, fifteen and seventeen years 
of age, to prepare for war, saying: ''Go, my children, 
keep back the foot of the invader from the soil of Au- 
gusta or see my face no more." When this story was 
reported to Washington, he said, ''Leave me but a 
banner to plant upon the mountains of Augusta, and I 
will rally around me the men who will lift our bleeding 
country from he dust and set her free." 

For daring deeds, Charles Lewis, the youngest son, 
was well known, and many a story has been repeated 
about him around the firesides of the Valley. On one 
occasion Charles was taken prisoner by the Indians, 



154 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

who, having bound his hands behind him, were march- 
ing him barefooted across the Alleghanies. All the 
while he was looking for an opportunity to escape. 
Finally, as he was passing along the edge of a deep 
ravine through which ran a swift mountain stream, 
he plunged fearlessly over the precipice, and as he did 
so, he succeeded in breaking the cords which bound his 
hands. The Indians jumped after, and chased him down 
the ravine. But he ran across a field, leaped over some 
fallen trees, and hid himself in the tall weeds. The 
Indians failed to find him, although they made a long 
and faithful search. While Lewis was lying hid in the 
grass, he perceived huge rattlesnake coiled and ready 
to attack him. He knew that if he shuddered or winked 
his eye even, that the rattlesnake would strike, so he kept 
perfectly still for more than an hour, until the rattle- 
snake crossed over his body and crawled away. Charles 
Lewi became a major in the Virginia militia, and fell 
bravely fighting the Indians at Point Pleasant. 

But the best known of the sons of John Lewis was 
General Andrew Lewis, who was born in Ireland, prob- 
ably about the year 1716. In personal appearance he 
was very imposing, being more than six feet high. He 
had a giant's frame and the '^ earth seemed to rumble 
under him as he walked along.'' He was stern of coun- 
tenance^ and repulsive to those who did not know him 



ANDREW LEWIS. 155 

well. To the Indians, the mention of his name brought 
terror. 

When a very young man he was engaged in many 
fights with the Indians, for hardly had the Valley been 
settled, before Indians from the borders 
of the Ohio River crossed the Alle- 
ghanies, destroyed many homes and 
killed many settlers. Among the first 
to take arms against the savages were 
the Lewis brothers. 

In 1756, Governor Dinwiddle deter- 
mined to send an expedition against 
the Shawnee Indians, who lived on the 
Ohio River near the mouth of Big 
Sandy River. For this undertaking, 
Major Andrew Lewis was selected to 
command the forces. His little army 
had a long march through a great 
wilderness, for there were few settle- 

STATUE OF LEWIS. 

ments west of the Alleghany Mountains, 
the first settlers having gone to that region about 1748. 
After a month's time all of the provisions of the little 
army had been consumed, but the troops managed to live 
upon the elks and buffaloes that they shot in the forests. 
Lewis, failing to find the Indians, returned to Augusta. 
Governor Dinwiddle was displeased because nothing 




156 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

had been accompli hed, and wrote that ''Major Lewis 
and his men did not know the way to the Shawnese 
towns." Although Lewis had been unsuccessful in this 
expedition, the governor soon afterwards ent him with 
a force into the Cherokee country. Hither Lewis pro- 
ceeded and built a fort on the Tennessee River about 
thirty miles south of the present site of Knoxville. 

In the meantime it was reported that the French and 
Indians were marching from Fort Duquesne (Pitts- 
burg, Pa.), and were going to attack Winchester, so the 
governor called out the militia of ten counties to serve 
under Washington. Lewis was ordered to raise a com- 
pany of Cherokees and to join Washington, but the 
Indians were unwilling to serve, and when Lewis re- 
turned from the Cherokee country, he brought only seven 
warriors and three women instead of four hundred 
warriors as had been expected. Governor Dinwiddle 
was again greatly disappointed, but he then learned 
that the Virginians could not hope to enlist the Southern 
Indians to fight the French and the Indians of the 
Northwest. 

The people of Augusta were in constant fear of the 
Indian raids, so long as the French remained in control 
of the Northwest; therefore, Lewis kept the militia 
of the county in readiness for any emergency. Great 
was their joy when it became known that William Pitt, 



ANDKEW LEWIS. 157 

the great English statesman, was determined to capture 
Fort Duquesne and Quebec, and drive the French from 
North America. General Forbes was sent (1758) to 
take Fort Duquesne, and Washington joined him with 
about eighteen hundred Virginia soldiers, of whom two 
companies were under the command of Major Andrew 
Lewis. 

On arriving in the neighborhood of Fort Duquesne, 
Forbes sent Major Grant with eight hundred men, in- 
cluding Major Lewis 
and his two com- 
panies, to recon- 
noiter the place. 

AN INDIAN TOMAHAWK. 

Grant, refusing to 

take advice, allowed himself to be entrapped by the 
Indians. Lewis was left to guard the baggage, while 
Grant and his troops went to examine the condition 
of the garrison. Suddenly Grant was attacked by 
the Indians, who, hidden behind trees, could not be 
seen, and the British regulars were driven back with 
great loss. Lewis, hearing the noise of the battle, 
hastened with his troops to the scene of action. 
He and his men were attacked by the Indians with 
tomahawk and scalping-knife. Lewis fought hand to 
hand with an Indian warrior whom he killed. Finding 
himself surrounded by the Indians, he surrendered to 




158 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

a French soldier in order to save his Hie. He was treated 
with great indignity, stripped of all his clothing and 
carried a prisoner to the fort. It is not known how long 
he remained in prison, but he was probably released 
when General Forbes captured Fort Duquesne. After 
the French were driven out of the Northwest, there were 
few Indian raids into Augusta county, and for some time 
we hear little of Lewis. 

Settlers came in great numbers to the Valley, so that 
by 1769 it was felt that Augusta county ought to be 
again divided. The southern part, then including all 
of southwest Virginia, was cut off and made into the 
County of Botetourt. In this section, not far from the 
present site of Salem, Andrew Lewis lived, and when 
Botetourt was formed, he was made a justice of the peace 
for that county. 

In 1774 the governor of Virginia was Lord Dunmore. 
Many settlers had by this time pushed their way across 
the Alleghany Mountains, and some had their eyes turned 
to Kentucky ; but as yet no county had been organized 
west of the Alleghanies. The Indians along the Ohio 
River, fearing that they would lose their lands, rose 
against the whites, burned many settlements and killed 
the settlers. In retaliation some of the frontiersmen had 
attacked and killed the entire family of an Indian 
chief, named Logan. This brought on a general war 



ANDREW LEWIS. 



159 



along the frontier, and Lord Dunmore at once prepared 
to defend the western settlements. 

Andrew Lewis was appointed brigadier general, and 
forthwith he raised a force of eleven hundred men 
chiefly from Augusta, Botetourt, Culpeper and Bedford 
counties. These men were 
bold and brave frontiers- 
men. ''They wore fringed 
hunting shirts died yellow, 
white, brown and even red. 
Quaintly carved shot-bags 
and powder-horns hung 
from their broad belts. 
They had fur caps, or soft 
hats, moccasins and coarse 
woolen leggins reaching half 

way up to the thigh. Each carried his flint-lock, his 
tomahawk and scalping knife.'' 

With such menLewis marched from Lewisburg,inwhat 
is now Greenbrier county, one hundred and sixty miles 
through the wilderness to the juncture of the Ohio and 
the Kanawha rivers, and took up his position on the 
point of land between the rivers, known as Point Pleas- 
ant. Here he expected to be joined by Lord Dunmore, 
who commanded an army raised in Frederick and the 
adjoining counties in northern Virginia. Dunmore 




LORD DUMMORE. 



160 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

did not arrive, but sent messages to Lewis that he had 
gone to attack the Shawnese towns across the Ohio, and 
ordered Lewis to cross the river and join him. Before 
Lewis could obey, he was attacked by the Indian leader. 
Cornstalk, with two thousand men. The battle was a 
fierce and bloody struggle, and was a sort of single com- 
bat. The fighting was done at close range. Each man 
sheltered himself behind a stump, a rock or a tree trunk. 
The Indians fully expected to gain the victory, but the 
frontiersmen under Andrew Lewis were too valiant for 
their enemy. When the savages began to waver, the 
voice of Cornstalk could be heard above the din of battle 
calling to his warriors: '^Be strong! Be strong! '■ After 
a desperate resistance, the Indians broke and fled. 
The victory was decisive, but an expensive one. ''The 
loss of the Virginians was heavy. Two colonels, seven 
captains, three lieutenants, and seventy-five men were 
killed, and one hundred and forty wounded. Out of 
every five men one was dead or wounded." The Indians 
lost even more heavily, and were never again able to 
meet the Virginians in open battle.* 

* We are not to suppose, however, that there were not Indian raids 
from time to time. These occurred frequently, and every pioneer 
barred his doors at night and kept his gun at the head of his bed as 
he slept, not knowing at what time the Indians might attack. The 
women, as well as the men, often engaged in warfare against the 
Indians. Such a woman was •' Mad Ann " of Alleghany county, the 
wife of John Bailey, a soldier killed at the battle of Point Pleasant. 



ANDREW LEWIS. l6l 

In less than a year after the battle of Point Pleasant, 
the Revolutionary war was at hand, and the Virginians 
were preparing to drive Lord Dunmore from the colony. 
It was believed that Dunmore had encouraged the In- 
dians at Point Pleasant, so that the Virginians might 
be made too weak to contend with England. Whether 
this be true or not. Lord Dunmore was certainly an un- 
principled man. The honor of having driven him out 
of Virginia belongs to Andrew Lewis. When the Revo- 
lutionary war opened, at Washington's request, Andrew 
Lewis accepted a brigadier-generalship in the army, and 
early in 1776 he took charge of the Virginia troops 
stationed at Williamsburg.* 

Before this time Lord Dunmore, for fear of the Vir- 
ginia people, had left Williamsburg on his warship Fowey, 

She went about dressed in a woman's skirt and a man's coat, a rifle 
on her shoulder and a tomahawk and butcher knife in her belt. She 
could climb the steepest mountain whether it was severe winter or 
hot summer. She often left home and no one knew her whereabouts, 
and when she returned, she always brought the scalps of some 
Indians. Sometimes she engaged in hand to hand fights with the 
Indians. She lived to be a very old woman and died in 1835, almost 
within the memory of our fathers. Her story is but an indication of 
the rough pioneer life before and after the time of the Revolution. 

( With the battle of Point Pleasant, open warfare with the Indians was 
at an end, but the settlers, like "Mad Ann," often had to hunt their 
enemy as they would hunt wolves. 

* The story is told that Washington wanted Lewis to be made 
commander-in-chief, but Congress forced the position on himself. 

I He recommended Lewis for a major-generalship, but Congress set 
him aside in the interest of one of its favorites. 
11 



162 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

and had seized Norfolk. Colonel Woodford of Caroline 
county was sent against him, and at Great Bridge, 
about twelve miles from Norfolk, a detachment of the 
British had been defeated, whereupon Lord Dunmore 
had been forced to abandon Norfolk. In May, 1776, 
Lord Dunmore with five hundred men including the 
negro slaves whom he had stolen from the Virginians, 
had established himself at Gwyn's Island in the Chesa- 
peake Bay on the east side of Matthews county. Lewis 
at once went to Matthews county to drive Dunmore 
away, or to capture him. Two batteries having been 
planted on the shores, a vigorous cannonade was opened 
against Dunmore's fleet which lay between the shore 
and the island. The fleet was badly damaged. The 
next day Lewis sent Colonel McClanahan with two 
hundred men to the island, but before he could land, 
the English had made their escape. When Dunmore 
sailed from Gwyn's Island, he left Virginia never to 
return. ' 

What loss Lewis inflicted on Dunmore 's troops is not 
known. One hundred and thirty graves were counted 
on the island and many dead bodies were found, but 
most of the deaths were due to the smallpox which had 
raged on the fleet and among the slaves whom he had 
taken from their masters. 

For four years of the Revolutionary war^ Lewis served 



ANDREW LEWIS. 



163 



as a brigadier general, in which position he never had 
a good opportunity to display his military genuis. In 
1780 he resigned 
his command in 
the army, probably 
on account of ill 
health. He started 
home, but on 
reaching Colonel 
Buford's in Bed- 
ford county, he 
was taken ill and 
died. His body was 
carried across the 
Blue Ridge and 
buried on his 
plantation, '^ Drop- 
more,'' near Salem, 

in what is now Roanoke county, but at that time a 
part of Botetourt. 

Lewis's services to Virginia should never be forgotten. 
He, above all others, saved Virginia from the Indians, 
and drove from the state Lord Dunmore, the most un- 
worthy governor that Virginia ever had. In 1857, when 
the famous Washington monument in the capitol square 
at Richmond was unveiled, Virginia did honor to the 




lewis's grave at SALEM. 



164 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

services of Lewis by placing his statue (see page 155) 
on that monument along with Mason, Jefferson, Mar- 
shall, Henry and Nelson. There you may see Lewis in 
the dress of a western pioneer, with his trusty hunting 
knife at his side and his faithful rifle in his hand. 

Review Questions. 

Give some account of John Lewis. What position did 
Thomas Lewis hold? Tell about William Lewis and his sons. 
Tell the story of Charles Lewis's escape from the Indians. 
Tell what kind of looking man Andrew Lewis was. Tell of 
his trip to find the Shawnee Indians. Give an account of his 
trip to the Cherokee country. Tell of his capture by the 
Fi'ench and Indians. Describe the battle of Point Pleasant. 
Tell the story of " Mad Ann." Tell of Dunmore's defeat at 
Great Bridge. How did Lewis drive Dunmore from Virginia? 
Tell of Lewis's death and burial. How has Virginia honored 
him? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Spotsylvania, Orange, Augusta, 
Alleghany, Frederick, Botetourt, Eoanoke, Washington, 
Culpeper, Matthews, Rockingham, Bedford and Rockbridge 
counties; Salem, Winchester, Williamsburg, Norfolk and 
Gwyn's Island. Map of West Virginia. — Find Greenbrier 
county, Lewisburg, Ohio River, Kanawha River and Point 
Pleasant. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
PATRICK HENRY. 

! 1736-1799. 

! While Virginia was increasing in population and 
i settlements were being formed west of the Blue Ridge, 
; the English government was looking with jealousy upon 
the prosperity of her colonies in America. In the year 
i 1765 the English Parliament determined to impose a 
I tax upon the American people, and it thereupon 
I passed a law known as the Stamp Act. 
I By this measure the colonies were required to use 
I stamps, made and furnished by the English government, 
upon all newspapers and books published in America, 
and upon documents of all kinds (wills, deeds, etc.), in 
order that they might be legal. The colonies north and 
south regarded this action of the English government 
as tyranny, claiming that they should not be taxed 
since they had no representation in the English Par- 
liament. Virginia was the first colony to enter a formal 
protest, and the leader in the bold step was Patrick 
Henry, the prophet and orator of the Revolution. 



166 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



Henry was a native of Hanover county. His father 
and his uncle, both men of learning, taught Henry the 
rudiments of Latin, Greek and mathematics. But since 
Patrick was not a 
book - loving boy, at 
an early age he began 
work by keeping store. 
Failing at this busi- 
ness, he made a ven- 
ture of another kind, 
and though only nine- 
teen years old, he 
married Sarah Shel- 
ton, the daughter of 
a small farmer of the 
neighborhood. His 
father and father-in- 
law came to his aid 
and placed him on a 
small farm with two 
slaves. He was un- 
successful at farming, and again tried storekeeping with 
no better results. 

Henry was a great lover of music and dancing. He 
read little, but learned much from those with whom he 
came in contact. He was fond of talking, and could 




PATRICK HENRY. 




i 



PATRICK HENRY. 167 

tell a joke with wonderful effect. These were qualities 
which Henry thought would make a lawyer; he there- 
fore secured an old English law book and a copy of the 
Virginia laws, which he studied for only six weeks. He 
then went to Williamsburg and took an examination 
before the judges of Virginia, who easily discovered that 
Henry had little knowledge of law, but seeing that he 
was a man of good common sense, they finally granted 
him his license to practice (1760). 

In 1763 the famous Parson's case came up in Hanover 
county. As you have learned, the law of Virginia fixed 
the salary of a preacher at sixteen thousand pounds of 
tobacco ($640). At that time tobacco was worth two 
pennies a pound, but it gradually increased in price until 
it came to be worth six pennies a pound. Thereupon, the 
House of Burgesses passed a law saying that the ministers 
should be paid in money at the rate of two pennies a 
pound for tobacco; in other words, preachers were to 
receive as much pay as had been given them before 
tobacco increased in value. This act could not become 
a binding law in Virginia until it met with the approval 
of the king, but on being sent to England he rejected 
it. In the meantime, the Virginians had gone on as 
if the law was binding and had paid the preachers 
in money. Since the king had not approved of the 
Virginia law, the clergy demanded their sixteen thou^- 



168 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

and pounds of tobacco, or its then market value 
($2,000). 

As a test case, Mr. Maury, a minister of Hanover 
county, brought suit to secure the difference between 
what had been received in money and the value of the 
tobacco. As the champion of the people, Patrick Henry 
appeared in the case when it was called at Hanover 
Courthouse. That was a great day in Henry's life, for 
from that time he was expected to lead in all move- 
ments for liberty. On the day of the trial about twenty 
ministers were present, and out of respect they were 
invited to sit by the magistrates who were then the 
judges in Virginia. One of the preachers was Henry's 
uncle, and his father was one of the magistrates. When 
Henry rose to address the jury he was so awkward in 
appearance and halting in speech, that the people felt 
that their cause was lost. But soon the young man 
rose on tiptoe, and in fiery eloquence argued for the 
rights of the people against the king and the established 
church. So severe was his denunciation of the king 
that several persons shouted, '' Treason! Treason! ", but 
to no avail; for the young orator believed that he was 
pleading a righteous cause. He made such an impres- 
sion on the jury, that in less than five minutes they 
brought in a verdict of one penny damages for the Rev. 
Mr. Maury. 



PATRICK HENRY. 



169 



Two years later Henry was a member of the House 
of Burgesses from Louisa county. When the assembly 
met at Williamsburg, every member was discussing the 
recent Stamp Act which had been passed by the Eng- 




THE COURTHOUSE AT HANOVER, VIRGINIA. 

lish Parliament. Henry^ very blood boiled that 
England should try to tax the colonies without their 
consent, and he doubtless remembered the attack which 
he had made on the king in his speech at Hanover 
Courthouse in the Parson's Case. He thereupon wrote 
five resolutions in which he boldly asserted that the 
right to govern Virginia lay in the House of Burgesses 
and not in the English Parliament. When these reso- 
lutions were offered, many of the members, especially 
those from eastern Virginia, opposed them bitterly. 
Henry at once rose to his feet, and made a memorable 



170 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

speech, of which the closing words were : '^Caesar had his 
Brutus; Charles I. his Cromwell; and George III. . . ." 
Many of the members rose to their feet at this point and 
cried, ^'Treason, Treason/^ but Henry only paused and 
said: ''George III. may profit by their example. If 
this be treason, make the most of it.'' The resolutions 
were passed by a majority of only one vote. Among 
those who voted against him were some of the most 
prominent men of the colony, such as Peyton Randolph, 
Edmund Pendleton and George Wythe. Jefferson, then 
a law student in Williamsburg, heard Randolph say as 
he came out of the house, ''I would have given five 
hundred guineas for a vote.'' 

On the afternoon of that day (29th of May), Patrick 
Henry returned home. He passed up the Duke of 
Gloucester Street ''wearing buckskin breeches, his saddle 
bags on his arm, leading a lean horse and chatting with 
Paul Carrington (a burgess from Charlotte county), 
who walked by his side." 

The next day the House of Burgesses seemed to fear 
what they had done and repealed the fifth section of 
Henry's resolution which declared "that the General 
Assembly of this colony have the sole exclusive right 
and power to levy taxes." The conservative Burgesses 
were not yet ready for so bold a protest. Unlike Henry, 
they had not seen that war was to come and that the 



PATRICK HENRY. 



171 



colonies would eventually declare themselves independ- 
ent. Henry's resolutions were the first blow of the 
Revolution. 

The English Parliament soon after repealed the 
Stamp Act, but refused to give up the right to tax the 



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ST. JOHN S CHURCH AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 



colonies and passed a law to tax tea, paper and some 
other articles which might be brought to America. The 
Virginians did not quietly submit, but claimed that 
they should not be taxed without representation in 
the English Parliament. On finding out that England 
insisted on taxing the colonies, the House of Burgesses 
passed, in 1769, another series of resolutions which were 
much like those that Henry had introduced in 1765. 
In 1773 a committee of correspondence was appointed 



172 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

in Virginia to keep in touch with the other Enghsh 
colonies. Peyton Randolph was chairman of this com- 
mittee, and the other members were Pendleton, Henry, 
Jefferson, Bland, Richard Henry Lee, Archibald Gary, 
Dabney Carr, Dudley, Diggs, Benjamin Harrison and 
Robert C. Nicholas. 

While this controversy was going on between Eng- 
land and her colonies, Henry was growing in reputa- 
tion as lawyer and a leader. He had been admitted 
to practice before the General Court of Virginia. His 
resolutions of 1765 had made him known throughout 
the colonies. When the first Continental Congress met 
in Philadelphia (1774), the Virginia representatives were 
Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Wash- 
ington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin 
Harrison and Edmund Pendleton. Peyton Randolph 
was elected president of this body. 

Henry urged that the colonies should act together, 
and said: ''The distinctions between the Virginians, 
Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders are 
no more. I am not a Virginian, but an American.'^ 
Without a doubt, Henry and Richard Henry Lee were 
the leading debaters and orators of the first Continental 
Congress. The Congress appealed to the English govern- 
ment to redress their grievances, and to the people of 
the colonies to stand firmly by their rights. 



PATRICK HENRY. 173 

Henry was a member of the Virginia conventions of 
1774 and 1775. The convention of 1775 met in March 
at old St. John's Church in Richmond. At the very 
opening of the convention Henry moved that the colony 
of Virginia should at once raise troops to defend itself 
against England. His resolutions were opposed by 
some members on the ground that there was no war 
with England. Henry spoke in defence of his resolu- 
tions and closed his speech by saying: ^'Our brethern 
are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? 
What is it that the gentlemen wish? What would they 
have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be pur- 
chased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it. 
Almighty God; I know not what course others may 
take, but, as for me, give me liberty or give me death." 
His speech carried all before him. The resolutions were 
passed, troops were at once raised, and Henry was made 
commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces. 

He, indeed, spoke as a prophet when he said: ''The 
next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our 
ears the clash of resounding arms." Hardly had Vir- 
ginia begun to raise troops when the news came that 
the first battle of the Revolution had been fought at 
Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts. 

In April of this same year. Lord Dunmore removed 
secretly from the old Powder House at Williamsburg 



174 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



all the ammunition that was kept there. When Henry 
heard of this action, he at once advanced with the Vir- 
ginia troops towards Williamsburg. The people of the 
colony rose on all sides to join him, and we are told that 




THE OLD POWDER HOUSE AT WILLIAMSBURG. 



he had with him more than five thousand men. Lord 
Dunmore became alarmed and sent messengers to Henry 
asking him to disband his troops, but he continued his 
march until he was within sixteen miles of Williamsburg. 
The governor's family fled from the capital and war 
would probably have broken out at that time, had not 



PATRICK HENRY. 175 

Lord Dunmore paid more than a thousand dollars for 
the powder which he had removed. A few months 
later Dunmore left Williamsburg never to return again. 

The colony being without a head, the Convention of 
1776 drew up a constitution and elected Patrick Henry 
as the first governor. For three years he held this re- 
sponsible position and showed that he was a man of 
power and ability. In 1784 he was again called to the 
governor's chair and served for two years. 

When Virginia's convention met in 1788 to pass upon 
the Constitution of the United States, Henry was a 
member of that body. He did all in his power to pre- 
vent the adoption of the Constitution, because he saw 
that the day would come when some of the states 
would regret that they had ever entered the Union. 

The people of Virginiaddolized Henry, and they would 
have given him any office in their power. He never 
sought office, but the office sought him. He declined 
to be a member of the Federal Convention of 1787. 
He could have been United States Senator, the Secre- 
tary of State under Washington, or Chief Justice of the 
United States, but he declined all these honors. In 
1796 he was a third time elected governor of Virginia, 
but at once refused to accept the position. Three 
years later, when he thought that the affairs of our 
country were in a serious condition, he stood for the 



176 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



legislature in Charlotte county and was elected, but 
before he could take his seat, he died. 

In the latter part of his life Henry had fallen into debt 
and he went back to the practice of law to regain his for- 



it| 




From ci7h old print. 

RED HILL, THE HOME OF PATRICK HENRY. 

tune. He was counsel for Thomas Walker in the British 
Debts case, in which an Englishman brought suit against 
Mr. Walker for a debt made before the Revolution. It is 
said that for weeks before the trial Henry shut himself 
up from all other engagements to study the case. When 
it was argued before the Federal Court at Richmond, 
he thrilled the whole room with his eloquence. 

Another case in which Henry figured was against one 
John Hook, a Scotchman, who brought suit for some 
beeves which had been taken from his plantation by the 



PATRICK HENRY. 177 

American soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Mr. 
Henry made a strong appeal, showing that a man of 
patriotism would never have demanded pay. He 
carried his hearers in imagination to Yorktown and the 
surrender of Cornwallis. He pictured Washington 
standing amid the joy of the occasion, when a note 
of discord' was heard, and behold it was John Hook 
hoarsely bawling through the American camp, '^Beef, 
Beef, Beef." The people were convulsed with laughter. 
The case was submitted to the jury and at once- a ver- 
dict was rendered against Hook. So intense was public 
feeling against him that some of the people at quiet old 
Campbell Courthouse raised the cry of ^Har and 
feathers," and Hook saved himself by mounting his 
horse and riding swiftly away. 

Patrick Henry had many homes,* but four years 
before his death, he took up his residence at the beau- 
tiful estate of ''Red Hill," in Charlotte county. Here, 
having paid his debts and given up the practice of law, 
he spent the rest of his life. Every morning when the 

* He first lived in Hanover county, where he bought a plantation 
known as " Scotchdown." While he was governor of the common- 
wealth, he resided at Williamsburg, but when the capitol was removed 
to Richmond, he located in that city. For a time he lived at 
"Salisbury" in Chesterfield county. He afterwards bought a home 
with ten thousand acres of land known as " Leatherwood" in Henry 
county, which was named for him. Later he lived on the Appomat- 
tox River in Prince Edward county, and then at " Long Island" in 
Campbell county, 
12 



"178 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

weather was warm and pleasant, he was accustomed 
to sit with his chair leaning against one of the trees on the 
lawn around his house. He delighted in his family, and 
often a visitor would find him lying on the floor romping 
with the children, or playing the fiddle for them to dance. 
He used no wine or alcoholic stimulants and detested 
tobacco. He was a person of strong religious faith. 
For love of country and nobility of character, he is to 
be ranked among the great Virginians. 

Review Questions. 

What was the Stamp Act ? Tell of Henry's early life and 
his admission to the bar. Explain the Parson's case. Why 
did Henry win in that case ? Give an account of the resolu- 
tions of 1765, What did Peyton Eandolph say ? How 
did Henry look as he went out of Williamsburg? What were 
the resolutions of 1769? What was the committee of corre- 
spondence of 1773? Tell of Henry in the Continental Congress 
of 1774, Give an account of his speech before the Virginia 
convention of 1775. Tell how he made Dunmore pay for the 
powder. How many years was he governor ? What offices 
did he decline ? Why did he oppose the adoption of the Con- 
stitution of the United States ? Tell of his homes and of his 
last years. 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Hanover, Chesterfield, Campbell, 
Henry, Charlotte, Louisa, and Prince Edward counties, and 
locate their courthouses. Find Richmond and Williamsburg. 
Map of Pennsylvania. — Locate Philadelphia, How would 
you go from Williamsburg to Philadelphia ? 



CHAPTER XIV. 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

1732-1799. 

Westmoreland county gave to Virginia and our 
country George Washington, "the noblest figure that 
ever stood in the forefront of 
a nation's Hfe." Washing- 
ton was born on the 22d day 
of February, 1732. His birth- 
place was on Bridges Creek 
not far from the Potomac 
River. The house contained 
four rooms on the ground 
floor, an attic with a sloping 
roof and a large brick chim- 
ney. Three years after his 
birth the family removed to 
Stafford county, just across 

the river from Fredericksburg. Here his father, Augustine 
Washington, died when Washington was only eleven 
years old and he was left to the care of his mother, whose 




THE MOTHER OF GEORGE WASH- 
INGTON. 



180 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

maiden name was Mary Ball. She was a woman of strong 
will, religious and stern, but kind. She was devoted to 
George, and as he grew to be a man, she was accus- 
tomed to say, '^George has been a good boy, and he will 
surely do his duty." She taught her son the principles 
of truth and honor. 

Washington had poor school advantages, but while 
in Stafford he was taught reading and writing by the 
sexton of the parish, a man named Hobby. Later he 
was sent to live with his half-brother, Augustine Wash- 
ington, in Westmoreland county, in order that he might 
receive instruction from a Mr. Williams, who conducted 
a fairly good school. Here Washington learned some 
mathematics and land surveying. Among the boys, 
Washington was leader both in his studies and upon the 
play ground. He used to divide his companions into 
armies, one of which he always commanded himself. 
He excelled his playmates in running, jumping and 
wrestling. 

The two older brothers, Lawrence and Augustine 
Washington, had been educated in England, where many 
Virginia boys were sent to school, but on account of the 
death of his father, George was deprived of this privi- 
lege. In 1747, when he was not quite sixteen, he left 
school and went to visit his brother Lawrence, who re- 
sided at Mount Vernon, near Alexandria. Here he met 




GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



181 



ALGONC'JINS 



Lord Fairfax, an old bachelor who had come to Vir- 
ginia to take possession of his large grant of land across 
the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was the purpose of Lord 
Fairfax to send settlers into that region, but, before do- 
ing so, it was necessary 
that the country should 
be surveyed. For this 
work he found young 
Washington in every way 
capable. 

Though so young, Wash- 
ington was robust, nearly 
six feet tall and well- 
formed, with long arms 
and big hands and feet. 
He had light brown hair 
and grayish blue eyes, and 
was a splendid type of a 
manly boy. In charac- 




English Posaessioaa l-iU-M 
French Claims. 
Spanish Claims 



ter, too, he was to be ad- the English colonial territory 
mired, for he was honor- ^^ ■^^^^■ 

able, persevering in whatever he undertook and wise 
far beyond his years. 

In 1748, accompanied by George Fairfax, a kinsman 
of Lord Fairfax, Washington crossed over the Blue 
Ridge into what is now Frederick county, Virginia, 



182 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

where he began his work. For three years he remained 
as a surveyor. During this time he suffered many hard- 
ships. He often slept for weeks at a time on the ground 
before the camp fire, and often for days at a time his 
clothes were wet. For his work Washington received a 
doubloon a day (about eight dollars in our money) . Lord 
Fairfax was so pleased with the account of the Shenan- 
doah Valley, that he moved across the Blue Ridge and 
built a home there, which he called Greenway Court. 
Here Washington was frequently a visitor, and when- 
ever he had a chance, he would read in the library of 
Lord Fairfax. On the recommendation from his lord- 
ship, Washington was appointed by the president of 
William and Mary College a surveyor of Culpeper county, 
which then extended across the mountains. He was kept 
constantly at work, for at this time many Germans 
were coming into the northern valley, and a surveyor 
was needed to cut off for each man his tract of land. 

In 1751 came a sudden change in Washington's ca- 
reer. Lawrence Washington was taken ill and George 
went to nurse him. A year later Lawrence died, leaving 
George as guardian of his little daughter and heir to the 
property in the event of her death. Shortly after this 
she died, and the splendid estate of Mount Vernon be- 
came the property of George Washington. At the time 
of his brother's death, though only twenty years old, 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



183 



Washington was appointed major in the Virginia 
miUtia, and a year later, when Virginia was divided into 
four mihtary districts, young Washington was put in 
command of the northern 
division. 

About this time the French 
occupied the territory along 
the upper Ohio River. The 
Virginians likewise claimed 
the western lands, and the 
Ohio company had received 
a charter for more than five 
hundred thousand acres of 
land along the river. The 
Washington brothers were 
interested in this company, 
and Lawrence Washington, 
just before his death, had been made manager of it. 
Governor Dinwiddle at once saw that the Virginia 
claim to the western land was about to be lost by French 
occupation. He thereupon determined to send an em- 
bassy requesting the French to withdraw from the Ohio 
River, and in the event of their refusal, to send an armed 
force to establish the English title. He selected as this 
messenger, George Washington, then but twenty-one 
years of age. When the French fort was reached, Wash- 




GEORGE WASHINGTON AS A 
YOUNG MAN. 

{,From a painting in possession of 
General George Washington Custis 
Lee, of Lexington, Va.) 



184 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

ington was courteously received by the commander, 
Chevalier de St. Pierre, an elderly man with silver gray 
hair. To the message which Washington brought from 
Governor Dinwiddle he replied: ''I am here by the 
orders of my general, and I entreat you, sir, not to 
doubt one moment but that I am determined to con- 
form myself to them with all of the exactness and reso- 
lution that can be expected from the best ofhcer." 

Washington returned as quickly as he could to Vir- 
ginia, but his trip was a perilous one. It was the middle 
of winter, and he often had to cross the rivers on ice. On 
one occasion he broke through, and barely escaped 
drowning. Once an Indian guide tried to shoot him. 
On reaching Williamsburg, about the middle of January 
(1754), he informed Governor Dinwiddle that the French 
were determined to hold their position. Virginia pre- 
pared for war, and appointed Colonel Fry to command 
the forces with Washington as his lieutenant-colonel. 
The troops were slow in assembling, so without Colonel 
Fry, Washington set out from Alexandria with only two 
companies of soldiers. 

When he reached Great Meadows, near the Mononga- 
hela River, he had an encounter with the French, whose 
commander, Jumonville, was killed. Here Washington 
built a rude fortification which was called Fort Neces- 
sity, and in this he placed his three hundred and fifty 



GEORGE AVASHINGTON. 185 

Virginians. The French and Indians made a vigorous 
attack and were repulsed, but when Washington per- 
ceived the numbers and reaUzed that ammunition was 
faihng, he decided to surrender the fort, with the pro- 
vision that his troops, carrying their arms, might quietly 
return home. This was a bitter disappointment, but 
Washington did well to get away on these terms, and 
the Virginia House of Burgesses, recognizing this fact, 
passed a vote of thanks to Washington and his officers. 

The English government now determined to drive the 
French from the Ohio Valley, and for that purpose they 
sent General Braddock to aid the Virginians. When he 
arrived in Virginia, he talked very boastfully of what he 
could do with his regulars, and almost showed contempt 
for Washington and the Virginia troops, who were to 
help in the campaign. -Braddock proceeded at once 
from Alexandria to Fort Duquesne, which the French 
had built where Pittsburg (Pa.) now stands. As 
the English were marching recklessly through the dense 
wilderness about eight miles from Fort Duquesne they 
were suddenly fired upon by the French and Indians who 
were hid in the woods. Though they formed themselves 
in their accustomed ranks crying, '^God save the King, 
God save the King,'' they were being killed in numbers 
when Washington asked Braddock to order his troops 
to take to the woods, and fire from behind the trees in 



186 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



Indian fashion. It is reported that Braddock was very 
angry with Washington, replying, ^'What! a Virginia 
colonel, teach a British General how to fight!" The 
loss of the Virginia and English troops was heavy, 
and when they broke, it was Washington who gathered 
up the fugitives and brought from the field Braddock, 




WASHINGTON S HOME AT MOUNT VERNON. 



who had received a mortal woimd. Four days later 
Braddock was buried, and Washington read the solemn 
words of the English burial services at the grave. 

Washington returned to Mount Vernon worn out with 
his campaign. He wrote to his mother, '^If it is in my 
power to avoid going to the Ohio again, I shall; but if 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 187 

the command is pressed upon me by the general voice of 
the country and offered upon such terms as can not be 
objected against, it would reflect dishonor upon me to 
refuse it.'' The very day on which he wrote this letter, 
the governor offered to him the command of all the 
Virginia troops on his own terms. Washington ac- 
cepted and established his headquarters at Winchester,* 
August, 1755, and had under him Lieutenant-colonel 
Adam Stephen and Major Andrew Lewis. 

Washington's defence of the frontier proved so effec- 
tive, that soon many settlers came into the Valley, 
and by 1759 Winchester contained two hundred 
houses. You have learned in connection with Andrew 
Lewis that General Forbes undertook an expedition 
against Fort Duquesne. Washington commanded the 
Virginia troops and joined General Forbes. It was 
against Washington's advice that Major Grant with 

* At this time Winchester was a frontier town, being the only one 
in the northern valley. There were then but two counties, Frederick 
and Augusta, west of the Blue Ridge mountains. Virginia had fifty- 
two counties and forty-four towns, though more than half of the latter 
had not more than five houses. The population of the colony was 
about two hundred and ninety-three thousand, of whom one hundred 
and twenty thousand were negroes. 

The Indians, incited by the French, made raids upon the inhabi- 
tants of frontier settlements which were beyond the mountains. So in 
1756, Major Andrew Lewis, as you have learned, was sent into west- 
ern Virginia against these Indians, but he did not find them. Major 
Lewis was also with Washington at Fort Necessity and at Braddock's 
defeat, and rendered great service. 



188 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Major Andrew Lewis was sent to reconnoiter the country 
about Fort Duquesne. When Forbes moved with the 
main army against the fort, Washington requested to 
be put in the front, and Forbes, remembering Brad- 
dock's fate, comphed with the request. With his six- 
teen hundred Virginians Washington led the march to 
Fort Duquesne. In accordance with his advice, also, 
the army pushed rapidly forward. As a result the 
French were disconcerted, and abandoned the place. 
Washington with his Virginians was the first to enter 
this fort, where he planted with his own hand the Eng- 
lish flag (1758). The works were repaired and named 
Fort Pitt, in honor of the Prime Minister of England. 
The French were at last driven from the Ohio region. 

The people of Frederick elected Washington a member 
of the House of Burgesses, though he was not a resident 
of that county. On taking his seat Speaker Robinson 
thanked him in behalf of the colony for his service in the 
wars. "Washington rose to express his acknowledg- 
ments for the honor, but was so disconcerted as to be 
unable to articulate a word distinctly. He blushed and 
faltered for a moment, when the Speaker relieved him 
from his embarrassment by saying, ^Sit down, Mr. 
Washington; your modesty equals your valor and that 
surpasses the power of any language that I possess.'' 

Just before Washington marched with General Forbes 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



189 





MARTHA WASHINGTON. 



tiEURGE WASHINGTON. 



to Fort Duquesne,he was on his way to Williamsburg to 
make a report to Governor Dinwiddie. When he was 
within a few hours' ride of the old capitol he was hailed 
by Colonel Chamberlayne of New Kent county, who 
took him to dine at his home. Here Washington met 
a charming young widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, whom 
a few months later he led to the altar as his bride. 
The marriage was performed at St. Peter's Church in 
New Kent County on January 6, 1759. It was a bril- 
liant company that assembled to witness the wedding, 
and among them was Governor Fauquier. 

Washington now made his home at Mount Vernon, 
where he enjoyed the free and easy life of a planter. He 
lived plainly, but sometimes he drove out with his wife 



190 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

and step-children to visit a neighbor or to attend a ball. 
At times he went fox-hunting with Lord Fairfax, or 
some of the neighbors. During this period he served 
in the House of Burgesses.* Washington was a mem- 
ber of the House of Burgesses in 1765 when Patrick 
•Eenry took his seat and offered those famous resolu- 
tions against the Stamp Act. We do not know how 
Washington voted, but he probably voted with the 
Conservatives against Henry's resolutions, though he 
was opposed to the Stamp Act. ^ 

Although England soon repealed the Stamp Act, she " 
still insisted on the right to tax the colonies, and laid 
duties upon tea and some other articles, which were im- 
ported by the colonists. Washington felt that this was 
an imposition, and he wrote to his friend Mason : '^Some- 
thing should be done to maintain the liberty which we 
have derived from our ancestors. No man should hesi- 
tate a moment to use arms in defense of so valuable a 
blessing is clearly my opinion. Yet arms, I should beg 

* Like other politicians of the day, when election time came on he 
appeared before the voters and did the usual treating. We are told 
that when he was first elected a member of the Burgesses, though 
only a few hundred votes were cast, he paid for his election with a 
hogshead and a barrel of punch, thirty-five gallons of wine, forty- 
three gallons of strong cider and dinner for his friends. This cost in 
money was thirty-nine pounds and six shillings ($200). Jefferson had 
done the same thing when he was first elected to the Burgesses, and it is 
said that the people of Orange once failed to elect Madison a member 
of the legislature because he would not spend money in treating. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 



191 



leave to suggest, should be the last resource.'' In 1769, 
on account of strong resolutions against the English gov- 
ernment, the governor dissolved the Burgesses. There- 
after most of them met in the Raleigh Tavern and 




THE RALEIGH TAVERN. 



adopted some resolutions called the non-importation 
agreement, drawn by George Mason and presented by 
Washington, agreeing that none of them would import 
from England tea or any other taxed goods. Washington 
lived up to this agreement, and would not allow any 
tea to be used in his own home. 

Shortly after this, by act of English Parliament, the 
Boston Harbor was closed, and the first Continental 
Congress met in Philadelphia in 1774. Washington was 
chosen one of the Virginia representatives to that body, 
which asked England to repeal her harsh laws against 
the colonies. Congress adjourned to meet again in May, 
1775. Before it reassembled, the first battle of the 



192 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY, 

Revolution was fought on April 19th, at Concord and 
Lexington in Massachusetts, and the colonies were in 
open rebellion against the mother country. 

When the second Continental Congress assembled on 
May 10, 1775, it began immediately to consider what the 
colonies ought to do, and after a month's time, decided 
to put an army in the field. Against his wish, Wash- 
ington was elected as commander-in-chief of the Amer- 
ican forces. He proceeded at once to Boston, where he 
was received with shouts and the firing of cannon. On 
July 3rd, 1775, he took command of the Continental 
Army. 

The story of the Revolutionary War belongs to the 
history of the United States, and can not be given here. 
Sufficient it is to say that from 1775 to 1781, a period of 
six years, Washington held the English army under 
check in New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He 
lost several battles, but never suffered any crushing de- 
feats. By two brilliant victories, one at Trenton and 
the other at Princeton, he saved the American cause. 

His soldiers suffered greatly in the terrible winters, 
and especially while they were stationed at Valley Forge 
near Philadelphia, for the winter of 1777-1778. Though 
the army had scarcely any clothes, shoes or food, 
Washington did not despair. A less brave man would 
have succumbed to the neglect of Congress, which had 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 193 

ample supplies, but did not furnish the means of send- 
ing them to the army. A plot was hatched even to 
remove Washington from the command, but it failed 
to carry, and Washington continued to persevere. 
Through the skill of a German officer, Baron Steuben, 
the soldiers were kept in constant drill, and when they 
were out of winter quarters in the spring, they were 
better disciplined than at any time before. 

After two years of waiting the time came when the 
war should close. Lord Cornwallis with an English 
army had stationed himself at Yorktown. A French 
fleet had entered the mouth of York River, and thus an 
English fleet was prevented from bringing aid. Wash- 
ington saw the situation and marched rapidly from New 
York to Yorktown, where he found Lafayette and the 
Virginian troops under Nelson. With Washington was 
a strong French force under Count Rochambeau. When 
the army was drawn up at Yorktown, it numbered in 
all twelve thousand men. Gradually the lines of the 
Americans were moved closer and closer, and each day 
the English were subjected to a heavy fire. After a 
siege of three weeks, Cornwallis decided to surrender, 
and on the 19th of October, 1781, the English marched 
between the Americans and French drawn up in separate 
lines, and laid down their arms, while the band played 
''The World Turned Upside Down.'' 

13 



194 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

The war was now at an end, and in 1783 England 
acknowledged the independence of the thirteen states. 
During the long struggle Washington had been unself- 
ishly patriotic. At one time the army was ready to 
declare him king, but Washington sternly rejected such 
a proposition. 

In December, 1783, he bade farewell to the officers 
of the army in Fraunce's Tavern, New York. To those 
men who had followed him through the long and dark 
contest, he said : ^^ With a heart full of love and grati- 
tude I now take my leave of you, most devoutly wish- 
ing that your latter days may be as prosperous and 
happy as your former ones have been glorious and 
honorable." In silence and with tears in his eyes he 
embraced each officer, after which he walked to White- 
hall Ferry and began his journey homeward. He went 
to Annapolis (Md.), where he resigned his commission 
to Congress, and on Christmas Eve, 1783, reached Mt. 
Vernon, which he had left eight years before to become 
Commander-in-chief of the Continental army. 

In 1787 a convention met in Philadelphia to draw up 
a constitution for the United States. Washington was 
one of the Virginia delegates, and was made president 
of the convention. When the constitution went into 
effect, in 1789, Washington was elected as the first 
President of the United States, having received every 



GEOEGE WASHINGTON". 



195 







FEDERAL HALL, NEW YOEK, WHERE WASHINGTON WAS INAUGURATED 

PRESIDENT. 

vote cast. It was with some regret that he left Mt. 
Vernon to go to New York^ where Congress was then 
in session. His journey was made by carriage, and all 
along the road he was received with great delight by 
a loving people. On reaching New York he was con- 
ducted to Federal Hall, where, on the 30th of April, 
1789, he was inaugurated President amid the shouts of 
''God bless our Washington! Long live our beloved 
Washington!" 

Washington was elected to a second term and de- 
clined a third. For eight years he presided with dig- 
nity and success over the affairs of the United States. 



196 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

On retiring from the Presidency, he returned to Mount 
Vernon, where he led the hfe of an unaffected Virginia 
gentleman. Though he had been President of the 
United States, he did not refuse to serve on a jury in 
his native county when asked to do so. 

On the 12th of December, 1799, while riding over his 
farm, he was chilled by the keen winds and by the cold 
rain and sleet that was falling. When he retired that 
night, he was hoarse and cold, and in the night he awoke 
with a sharp pain in his throat. In the morning a doctor 
was summoned and the usual treatment of bleeding and 
other remedies were applied, but nothing would relieve 
the trouble, and he died on December 14, 1799. His 
body lies buried upon Virginia soil in a simple, but im- 
posing tomb at Mount Vernon. In 1857, the State of 
Virginia erected to his memory a splendid equestrian 
statue which adorns the capitol square at Richmond.* 

Washington was a gallant soldier and a statesman, 
and a high-minded gentleman of dauntless courage and 
stainless honor. Virginia will always be proud that she 
furnished to the Union him of whom it has been truly 
said that he was ''first in war, first in peace, first in 
the hearts of his countrymen.'^ 

" He knew not North, nor South, nor West, nor East : 
Childless himself, Father of States he stood, 

* See frontispiece. 



GEORGE WASHINGTON. 197 

Strong and sag-acious as a Knight turned Priest, 
And avowed to deeds of good. 

So his vast image shadows all the lands, 

So holds forever Man's adoring eyes, 
And o'er the Union which it left it stands 

Our Cross against the sky ! '' 

4 

Review Questions. 

Tell of the early life of Washington, Give some of his 
experiences as a surveyor. Give some account of Lord Fair- 
fax. Tell of his brother Lawrence Washington's death and 
will. Tell of Washington's trip to ask the French to leave the 
Ohio Region. Give the story of the surrender of Fort Neces- 
sity. Give an account of Braddock's defeat. Tell of Win- 
chester and the surrounding country. Tell of Forbes's cam- 
paign and the capture of Fort Duquesne. Tell of Washington 
in the House of Burgesses and of his modesty. Give the story 
of his marriage. Tell of his non-importation agreement. 
To what responsible position did the Continental Congress 
elect Washington ? Tell of Washington's. management of the 
war. Give an account of Washington at Valley Forge. 
How was Cornwallis captured ? Tell of Washington's fare- 
well to his officers and his return home. Describe his inaugu- 
ration as President of the United States. Tell of his last 
years. What kind of man was he ? How has Virginia 
honored him ? 

Oeography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Westmoreland, Stafford, Fred- 
erick, New Kent, Fairfax, and Culpeper counties. Locate 
Winchester, the Shenandoah River, Alexandria, Fredericks- 
burg and Yorktown. Map of New Jersey. — Locate Prince- 
ton and Trenton. 



CHAPTER XV. 
THOMAS NELSON, JR. 

1738-1789. 

One of the most patri- 
otic men of the Revolu- 
tionary period was 
Thomas Nelson, Jr. He 
was born in York county 
in 1738. His father was 
WiUiam Nelson, for many 
years president of the 
council of the colony, and 
at one time acting-gov- 
ernor of Virginia. Thomas 
Nelson received his early 
education from the Rev. 
Mr. Yates in Gloucester 
county, after which he 
was sent, at the age of fourteen, to England, where he 
was put first under tuition of Dr. Newcome, and after- 
ward under that of Dr. Porteus. For a while he at- 




THOMAS NELSON, JR. 



THOMAS NELSON, JR. 



199 



tended Eton, and later he entered the famous Trinity 
College, Cambridge, where he graduated with distinction. 

When it was reported that he was returning to the 
colony, the people of his native county elected him a 
member of the House of Burgesses, in which body he 
took his seat when he was just twenty-one years of age. 
He made his home at Yorktown, and became associated 
with his father in the mercantile business. On the death 
of his father he inherited 
a large estate. 

From time to time, 
Nelson served in the 
House of Burgesses. He 
was a member of that 
House of Burgesses of 

1774, which Dunmore 
dissolved; of the conven- 
tion of 1774, which elect- 
ed delegates to the first 
Continental Congress, 
and of the convention of 

1775, which, at Henry's 
suggestion, provided for 

the defence of the colony. Nelson was made a colonel 
of the second Virginia regiment, but he resigned this po- 
sition on being elected a member of the Continental Con- 




LUCY GRIMES NELSON. 



200 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

gress. We find him again in the convention of 1776, 
and here he offered the resolutions drawn by Pendleton 
instructing our delegates in Congress to declare the col- 
onies free and independent. 

Though Nelson loved England, having been educated 
there, he had decided that there was but one course for 
the colonies to pursue. He said: '^Having weighed the 
argument on both sides, I am clearly of the opinion that 
we must, as we value the liberty of America or even her 
existence, without a moment's delay declare our inde- 
pendence." He was again made a member of the Con- 
tinental Congress and was present on the fourth of July, 
when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. As 
one of the representatives of Virginia, he signed that 
famous document together with Jefferson, George 
Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Benjamin Harrison, Jr., 
Francis Lightfoot Lee and Carter Braxton. 

In 1777, when it was reported that the British fleet 
was about to enter the Chesapeake Bay, Thomas Nelson 
was elected commander-in-chief of the Virginia troops. 
A little later Congress called for volunteers and Nelson 
in response raised a company at his own expense, and 
marched north to help the Continental army. In this 
enterprise, he spent a "great deal of money for which 
he was never repaid. When he reached the North, 
General William Howe, the EngHsh commander, had 



THOMAS NELSON, JK. 201 

evacuated Philadelphia, so Nelson's troops were dis- 
banded. 

In 1779 the English prepared to invade Virginia. 
Thereupon the Virginia Assembly put the state troops 
under the direction of Nelson, and tried to raise two 
million of dollars with which to defend the state. The 
wealthy men had so little faith in the state government, 
that they refused to lend money to it, but Governor 
Nelson came to the rescue and subscribed largely of his 
own fortune, whereupon many persons decided, on 
Nelson's security, to let Virginia have the money. 

In the fall of 1780, Benedict Arnold, the traitor, sailed 
up the James River and tried to land near Williamsburg, 
but was driven off by the militia under General Nelson. 
Arnold then went up the river to Westover, where 
he landed some eight hundred men and marched to- 
ward Richmond. Nelson, in the meantime, had gone 
up the James, but reached Westover too late to cut off 
Arnold, who had proceeded to Richmond and entered 
the little city. Governor Jefferson and the legislature 
having abandoned the city, it was plundered by Arnold's 
troops, and many of the houses were burned. As 
Arnold returned down the river he pillaged the coun- 
try, but for fear of Nelson's troops he retired to 
Portsmouth. Here the people of Virginia planned to 
capture the traitor. 



202 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

A force of two thousand English were sent to Vir- 
ginia under General Phillips, who occupied Petersburg, 
to prevent Arnold's being taken prisoner. To meet 
these English forces, Washington dispatched from his 
army, then in New York, the young French Marquis de 
Lafayette, with twelve hundred men. He was joined 




BLANDFORD CHURCH, AT PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA. 

by about three thousand of the state militia under 
General Nelson, and attacked the English at Peters- 
burg. Phillips refused to give battle in the field, but 
remained shut up in Petersburg, a part of which was 
cannonaded at the command of Lafayette. Phillips 
was very ill of fever, and while the siege was in prog- 
ress he died. It is said that he exclaimed on his 



THOMAS NELSON, JR. 



203 



death bed, as he heard the roar of cannon, "My God, it 
is cruel. They will not let me die in peace." 

Arnold, who had joined forces with Phillips, now took 
command of the English, and he sent an officer with a 
flag and a letter to Lafayette, but the gallant Frenchman 
refused to have any intercourse whatever with the 
traitor, and returned the let- 
ter unread. Shortly after 
this Cornwallis arrived in 
Petersburg and probably 
saved Arnold from being cap- 
tured. Cornwallis, being a 
high-minded, man, was dis- 
gusted with the traitor Ar- 
nold, and no sooner did he 
reach Virginia than he gave 
Arnold a leave of absence to 
return to New York City. 
Thus departed the traitor 
from Virginia soil. 

Since CornwaUis had in Petersburg nearly eight 
thousand men, Lafayette did not feel able to resist him, 
and, therefore, he retired to the vicinity of Richmond to 
await the reinforcements which Washington was sending 
under General Wayne. When the British commander 
heard that he was opposed by Lafayette, it was 




204 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

reported that he said, ''The boy can not escape me/' 
But, though only twenty-three years of age, Lafayette 
was wise beyond his years, and in addition he had the 
advice of General Nelson. Cornwallis advanced from 
Petersburg and Lafayette retired by way of Fredericks- 
burg into Culpeper county. A division of troops under 
Colonel Tarleton was sent to Charlottesville to capture 
the Virginia legislature and Governor Jefferson. In this 
Tarleton failed, Jefferson making his escape on horse- 
back from Monticello, and the legislature going across 
the mountains into the Valley. 

Soon after this Jefferson retired from the governor- 
ship, and the legislature, almost in despair, -elected Nel- 
son as governor. He also continued as commander-in- 
chief of the Virginia militia, and showed himself worthy 
to fill both positions. 

About the middle of June, General Wayne arrived 
with about one thousand men to reinforce Lafayette 
and the Virginians. Cornwallis was then stationed in 
Hanover, but on Wayne's arrival he retired down the 
peninsula for fear that his supplies might be cut off, 
and by the last of August took up his position at York- 
town. At this point, Cornwallis, surrounded by the 
French and the Americans under Washington, was forced 
to surrender on October 19, 1781. 

Nelson was present at the siege of Yorktown, com- 



THOMAS NELSON, JB. 



205 



manding the state troops. His home, the most con- 
spicuous house in the Httle village, was occupied by the 
Enghsh, and was thought to be the headquarters of 
Cornwallis. When an American battery was ordered 
to open fire upon the house, the gunner hesitated be- 
cause he did not wish to destroy the home of the gov- 




GENERAL NELSON S HOME AT YORKTOWN. 



ernor. Nelson rode up at this time, dismounted from 
his horse, and himself fired the first shot at his own 
house. It is said that he even offered a reward of five 
guineas (twenty-five dollars) to the soldiers for every 
bomb shell that should be fired into it. Though he had 
given freely of his money and borrowed for the state on 



206 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

his own credit, he was in addition wilUng to sacrifice his 
beautiful mansion for Virginia. 

In less than a month Nelson resigned the governor- 
ship and retired to private life. The remaining eight 
years of his life he spent either at Yorktown, or at his 
plantation in Hanover county. He died in Hanover 
county, January 4, 1789, in the fifty-first year of his 
age. He was buried at Yorktown, but no slab marks his 
grave. After his death, most of his property was sold to 
pay the debts which he contracted in his country's 
cause. It is said that even the old family Bible was 
sold. His state has honored him by placing a bronze 
statue on the Washington Monument at Richmond, 
and Virginians will never forget the sacrifices that 
Nelson made for his country. 



Review Questions. 

Give an account of the early fife of Nelson. What position 
of honor did he hold ? Who were the Virginia signers of the 
Declaration of Independence ? Tell of Nelson's liberality to 
his state and to the United States. Tell of Arnold in Virginia. 
Give an account of General Phillips. Tell of the movements 
of Cornwallis and of Lafayette. Tell of Nelson at Yorktown. 
Why was his property sold ? How has Virginia honored 
Nelson ? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Yorktown, Richmond, Ports- 
mouth, Petersburg, Fredericksburg, Culpeper county, Char- 
lottesville, and Hanover county. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 

1752-1818. 

West of the Alleghany Mountains Virginia claimed, 
under the charters of 1606 and 1609, a vast territory, 
which extended to the 
Mississippi River and 
embraced the present 
states of Kentucky, 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan and Wiscon- 
sin. Few permanent 
settlers had entered this 
region before the Revo- 
lutionary War, though 
some traders had gone 
there for the sake of 
traffic with the Indians. 
Small settlements had been made in what is now 
Kentucky and Ohio. Farther from the Ohio River in 
the Northwest Territory, the French made settlements, 




GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 



208 MAKERS OP VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

chiefly at Kaskaskia (111.), and Vincennes (Ind.). But 
the territory south of the Ohio River was always held by 
the English. Here Daniel Boone had moved with his family 
in 1775, and here many families also came from Virginia. 
Among the early settlers was George Rogers Clark. 

George Rogers Clark was born in Albemarle county, 
Virginia, in 1752, not far from the birthplace of Thomas 
Jefferson. 

His father was John Clark, who moved from Albe- 
marle to Caroline county when George was only five 
years old. Here was the Clark homestead until 1785, 
when the family moved to Kentucky. In Caroline was 
born William Clark, who went with Meriwether Lewis to 
explore the Pacific Coast. 

George Rogers Clark received little education, but it 
is said that he was for nine months in a school con- 
ducted by Mr. Donald Robertson, where he was a play- 
mate of James Madison, afterwards President of the 
United States. Clark, like Washington, was fond of 
mathematics, and turned his attention to surveying. 
By 1770, emigrants were crossing the Alleghany Moun- 
tains, moving towards the Ohio Valley. Among these 
was Clark, who took up some land about twenty-five 
miles from where Wheeling, West Virginia, now stands. 
Here Clark spent his time in hunting and fishing, and 
surveying the lands around him. 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 209 

When Dunmore took the field against the Indians 
of the Northwest/ Clark joined him. He was not at the 
Battle of Point Pleasant, as he was with the troops 
which Dunmore commanded in person and not under 
Andrew Lewis. About a year after the battle of Point 
Pleasant many settlers went to Kentucky, and of the 
number was Clark, who soon organized the people 
into companies to fight the Indians. Through his in- 
fluence that great western country became a county 
in Virginia, and sent him and John Gabriel Jones as rep- 
resentatives to the Virginia legislature. Clark and 
Jones at once began their journey to Wilhamsburg — 
through the mlderness and across the mountains — a dis- 
tance of 700 miles. Much of the way Clark was forced 
to walk on account of the loss of one of the horses. 

On arriving at Wilhamsburg he found that the legis- 
lature was not in session, but he appeared before Gov- 
ernor Patrick Henry and the^'irginia Council of State, and 
showed the urgency of defending Kentucky against the 
Indians, and at the same time of tr^dng to hold for Vir- 
ginia the Northwest Territory, which the Enghsh from 
Canada were occupying. Henrj^ saw at once the im- 
portance of what Clark proposed to do, and he there- 
fore directed him to raise troops and return to Ken- 
tucky. Clark at once got together the soldiers, and 
when all things were in readiness he sailed down the 



210 MAKERS OF VIRGII>I1A HISTORY. 

Ohio River and entered the southern part of what is 
now Ilhnois. There he attacked the town of Kaskaskia, 
which was held by a garrison of Enghsh troops. He 
secretly entered the place without being detected, 
walked to the fort and stood in the doorway of the hall 
watching the dancing. The English did not see him, 
but an Indian, who was present, noticed the stranger and 
raised a warwhoop. Clark quietly quelled the distur- 
bance and informed the gentlemen that they could pro- 
ceed with their dance, though they were now prisoners 
in the hands of the Virginians. 

He then went to the home of the commander, Roch- 
blave, who was captured in bed. In the house were 
some important papers stored in Madam Rochblave's 
room, and Clark greatly desired to secure them; but his 
gallantry and respect for ladies was so great that, rather 
than invade the privacy of a lady's bedchamber, he 
permitted her to burn the papers without being dis- 
turbed. 

After this, Clark took possession of Vincennes, whose 
inhabitants were French, and were glad to transfer their 
allegiance from the flag of England to that of Virginia. 
At that time the English had a large force at Detroit 
under command of Governor Hamilton, who determined, 
if possible, to hold the Northwest for the English; he, 
therefore, moved with a large force to the south and 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 



211 



recaptured Vincennes. When Clark heard of this, he 
again collected his troops with the determination either 
to capture Hamilton and his forces, or to drive them out 
of the Northwest Territory. 
In the middle of the winter (1779) Clark left Kas- 




boone's trail (1775) and clark's campaign (1778-79). 



kaskia to attack Vincennes. His march was a bold 
undertaking, and covered a distance of 160 miles 
through the drowned lands of the Wabash River. 

1 Often the soldiers had to go through water up to their 
waists and sometimes even to their necks. But Clark 
was dauntless and his men were brave, so they pushed 

1 on with determination. Towards the end of the 



212 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

march Clark found the water so deep, and his men 
were so weak from cold and hunger that he feared to 
tell them the situation. He then ^^ put some water 
in his hand, poured on powder, blackened his face, 
gave the war whoop and marched into the water with- 
out saying a word." He ordered his men to begin a 
favorite song, and the whole force, joining in, marched 
cheerfully through the water. 

After sixteen days of great perseverance and hard- 
ships Clark reached Vincennes. His appearance before 
the town was a surprise, as Hamilton had never dreamed 
that any man would dare to march from Kaskaskia to 
Vincennes through the drowned lands of the Wabash 
River. Clark ordered him to surrender, which he at 
first refused to do, but at night Clark attacked the fort 
so vigorously that the next day Hamilton yielded. 
Clark sent a boat up the Wabash River and captured 
forty prisoners and fifty thousand dollars' worth of goods 
and stores. Hamilton and some of the officers and pri- 
vates were sent as prisoners to Wilhamsburg. Not 
only did Clark drive the Enghsh from the Northwest, 
but he. also subdued the Indians in that region. We 
are told that he met them in many conferences, and 
always succeeded in overawing them. At one meeting 
he had onVy seventy men, while the Indians had 
three hundred. The Indian chief, believing that he 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 



213 



was stronger than Clark, placed upon the table, by which 
Clark was seated, a belt of white and black wampum, 
meaning that Clark could take either peace or war. 
Regarding this as an insult, Clark pushed the wampum 
on the floor, trampled on it and dismissed the Indians 
from the hall. This 




THE OLD NORTHWEST. 



courageous act, 
which meant war, 
so unnerved the 
Indians that they 
at once began to 
fear Clark and the 
next day they sued 
for peace. 

Clark, having 
overcome the English and having forced the Indians 
to a treaty, now had absolute control of the North- 
west Territory. Virginia was delighted with Clark's 
undertaking. The legislature passed a vote of thanks 
and presented him with a sword on the scabbard of 
which were the words, ''Sic semper tyrannis,'' * and on 
the blade, "A tribute to courage and patriotism pre- 
sented by the State of Virginia to her beloved son. 
General George Rogers Clark, who, by the conquest of 
Illinois and Vincennes, extended her empire and aided 

* Thus always with tyrants. 



214 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

in the defence of her Uberties." Foi; their services in the 
war, Virginia granted to Clark and his soldiers one hun- 
dred and fifty thousand acres of land in what is now the 
state of Indiana. Of this grant Clark received for his 
part eight thousand acres, and each private received one 
hundred and eight acres. All of this magnificent ter- 
ritory Virginia gave, a few years later, to the Union. 

In conquering the Northwest Territory from the Eng- 
lish Clark did a great thing for his country. If he had 
not made this expedition, the territory would have re- 
mained in the hands of the English until the close of the 
Revolutionary War. By the treaty of peace with Eng- 
land, which acknowledged the independence of the 
United States, it is agreed that England and the United 
States should each retain what territory they held at the 
close of the war. By this treaty, Canada, which was 
never conquered by the United States, was kept by 
England, but since Clark had conquered the Northwest 
Territory this remained in the hands of the United 
States. So it was through the boldness and bravery 
of George Rogers Clark that we now have in our union 
those five magnificent states, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 
Michigan and Wisconsin. 

Clark made his home for the rest of his life in Ken- 
tucky. Unfortunately he formed the habit of drink- 
ing, which prevented him from ever becoming a promi- 



GEORGE ROGERS CLARK. 215 

nent man. In 1792 the large county of Kentucky was 
allowed by Virginia to become a state in the Union, and 
Clark would undoubtedly have been its governor or one 
of its representatives if he had not been a hard drinker. 
He died in 1818. At that time the country which he 
had seen as a wilderness had become populous and 
wealthy. Already Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois 
were states in the Union, while Michigan, which at that 
time included Wisconsin, was a flourishing territory. 



Review Questions. 

What was the Northwest Territory ? Tell of Clark's early 
life. What did he do in Kentucky ? Tell of his trips to 
Virginia and of his interview with Governor Henry. Tell of 
his attack and capture of Kaskaskia. Give an account of his 
march to and capture of Vincennes. Give the story of Clark's 
conference with the Indians. How did Virginia recognize 
Clark's services ? What was the importance of Clark's con- 
quest ? Tell of the last years of Clark. 

Geography Study. 

Map of Kentucky and the Northwest. — Find Vincennes, 
Detroit, Kaskaskia, the Wabash River and the Ohio River. 
Map of Virginia. — Find Albermarle county. How far is it 
from Albermarle to the Mississippi River ? 



CHAPTER XVII. 



EDMUND PENDLETON. 

1721-1803. 

One of the most prominent figures in the pohtical 
history of Virginia for the last half of the eighteenth 

century was Edmund 
Pendleton. He was 
born in Caroline 
county in 1721. His 
father died a few 
months before his 
birth, and young 
Pendleton, being 
raised in poverty, 
had small oppor- 
tunity for an educa- 
tion. When he was 
fourteen years old, 

EDMUI^D PENDLETON. ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^g ^^ 

apprentice to Colonel Benjamin Robinson, clerk of Caro- 
line county. Pendleton, however, was ambitious and dili- 




EDMUND PENDLETON. 217 

gent and he wished to be a great man. What httle 
money he earned, he spent on books, which he read 
eagerly and carefully. At the age of twenty-one, after 
a rigid examination, he obtained a license to practice 
law. At this time he married Miss Betty Roy against 
the wish and consent of Mr. Robinson. His wife died 
in less than two years, and, when he was in his twenty- 
fourth year, he married Miss Sarah Pollard. 

Pendleton practiced law in the county court of Caro- 
line and afterwards before the general court of the colony 
of Virginia, establishing a reputation as a thorough and 
conscientious lawyer. In 1752 he was elected by Caro- 
line county as one of its members to the House of Bur- 
gesses, a position which he held for twenty-four years 
until the House of Burgesses was extinct and the 
House of Delegates, one branch of the Virginia legis- 
lature, took its place. After two-years' service in the 
House of Delegates he was made, in 1778, president of 
the Virginia Court of Appeals, and retained this position 
until his death. 

When, in 1773, on the motion of Dabney Carr, a com- 
mittee of correspondence was appointed, Pendleton 
was made one of its members. The duty of this com- 
mittee was to keep in touch with the sister colonies. 
The Virginia conventions of 1774 and 1775 elected 
Pendleton as one of the representatives to the Con- 



218 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



tinental Congress.* Pendleton was also a member of 
the third Virginia convention in 1776, and he was presi- 
dent of the conventions of 1775 and of 1776. 

During this time Pendleton was slow to take steps 
towards open resistance to the English government 




A VIRGINIA COLONIAL HOME — "WESTOVER. 



When Patrick Henry offered his famous resolutions at 
St. John's Church in Richmond in 1775, asking that the 
colony be put in a state of defence and that troops be 
raised for that purpose, Pendleton opposed the measure 
believing that such action would only increase the bitter 
feeling existing between Virginia and the mother coun- 

* When Dunmore dissolred the Burgesses in 1774 for expressing 
sympathy for Boston, Virginia suggested the Continental Con- 
gress, and called for a state convention to govern in place of Dun- 
more. 



EDMUND PENDLETON. 219 

try. At this time he still hoped that the breach between 
England and the colonies might be healed, but this hope 
was lost when Dunmore acted so much like a tyrant. 
In 1775 the convention appointed a committee of safety 
to govern the affairs of the colony, and of this com- 
mittee Pendleton was made chairman. 

By the time that the convention of 1776 had met, 
Pendleton knew that the colonies could think of nothing 
but independence. War was already in existence; the 
battle of Lexington and Concord had already been 
fought; Washington was commanding the troops around 
Boston and in New York, and Lord Dunmore had fled 
from Williamsburg. Pendleton felt that Virginia should 
now take some decided stand. He therefore prepared 
a series of resolutions which were offered to the con- 
vention by Thomas Nelson, and which, after care- 
ful deliberation, were unanimously adopted. These 
resolutions declared the colony of Virginia free and 
independent of England, and also set forth that all the 
efforts of the united colonies to restore peace had been 
rejected by the British government, and that the colonies 
must either submit to English tyranny, or declare them- 
selves free from England and fight for their independ- 
ence. The Virginia delegates in Congress were, there- 
fore, instructed ^Ho declare the united colonies free and 
independent states.'^ Another resolution provided for 



220 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

the appointment of a committee to prepare a declara- 
tion of the rights and a plan of government for the State 
of Virginia. 

In consequence of the first resolution, Richard Henry 
Lee moved in the congress a Declaration of Independence 
which was drawn up by Thomas Jefferson and adopted, 
July 4, 1776. In consequence of the second resolution, 
the convention in June adopted Mason's Declaration of 
Rights and his constitution for Virginia. 

When Pendleton's resolutions were adopted, the peo- 
ple of the state went wild with joy, and amid the ringing 
of bells and the thunder of artillery the royal power of 
England was rejected and the independence of Virginia 
was welcomed. Andrew Lewis was then in Williams- 
burg at the head of the army. Pendleton's resolutions, 
as adopted, were read to the army in the presence of the 
general, the committee of safety, the members of the 
convention and a large concourse of people. The soldiers 
were greatly delighted, and they were feasted that night 
at Waller's grove on the outskirts of the town. The 
city was illuminated with many bonfires. The people 
did not realize that Williamsburg, where so many gov- 
ernors had lived in royal fashion, was never again to 
be the home of a representative of the English govern- 
ment. No more governors' balls were to be given at 
the old palace, no more toasts to the king were to be 



EDMUND PENDLETON. 221 

drunk at governors^ banquets. Monarchy was dead 
in the Old Dominion. The cavaUer spirit which had 
upheld Charles I. and his wicked son, Charles II., no 
longer had reverence for the English crown, and a 
democratic spirit had seized hold of the people of Vir- 
ginia, who were now ready to trample under foot the 
British lion, the symbol of monarchical government, and 
to establish a republic in which all the people would be 
^^ equal, free and independent.'^ All honor is due to old 
Virginia for having laid the basis of republican govern- 
ment in America by the adoption of Pendleton's resolu- 
tions in favor of the Declaration of Independence. 

When Virginia became an independent state, Pendle- 
ton seemed satisfied. He was in favor of keeping all 
the old English laws, such as those which united the 
Church and State and which gave the landed estates 
to the eldest son. But through the influence of Jefferson 
these laws were abolished, though Pendleton tried hard 
to retain them. 

While the Church and State were united, the Estab- 
lished Church held many acres of land, known as the 
glebes. These lands were the property of the State. 
In 1802 a law was passed ordering the glebes to be sold 
and the money to be used for the care of the poor. The 
Episcopal Church, which had been the Established 
Church, took the matter into the courts, and it came 



222 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

up before the Court of Appeals of Virginia, of which 
Pendleton was president. 

It is said that Pendleton had prepared an opinion 
in favor of the Church, declaring the law unconstitutional 
and thereby restoring the glebe lands to the Episcopal 
Church. The day set for the delivery of the decision 
was the 26th day of October, 1803, but a few days before, 
Pendleton was taken sick and died on the very day that 
he was to have delivered his decision. The new presi- 
dent of the Court of Appeals held a different opinion 
from Pendleton, so the glebe lands were sold and never 
restored to the Episcopal Church. 

As a judge, Pendleton presided over the Court of 
Appeals with dignity and fair-mindedness. He showed 
himself a learned lawyer, and had the respect of all 
Virginians, even those who held opinions differing from 
his own. 

In 1788 the Constitution of the United States was 
submitted to the people of Virginia, and it was a ques- 
tion of great importance whether they should adopt 
or reject it. For the purpose of deciding the matter, a 
state convention was called to meet at Richmond. All 
the Union was waiting to see what Virginia would do. 
Upon her it was thought that the fate of the Constitu- 
tion hung — that if Virginia should reject it, the new form 
of government would not go into effect, and that if she 



EDMUND PENDLETON. 



228 



should adopt it, the United States would begin a new 
career as a world power. Therefore, the coming together 
of the convention at Richmond attracted men not only 
from Virginia, but from all parts of the Union. When 




WASHINGTON, HENRY, AND PENDLETON GOING TO THE FIRST CONGRESS.* 

this famous convention met, composed of such men as 

Patrick Henry, George Wythe, James Madison, George 

Mason, James Monroe, and scores of other noted men, 

it is not to be wondered that a great crowd assembled to 

hear its deliberations. 

One of the first steps of the convention was the elec- 

*From Irving's "Life of Washington," published by G. P. Put- 
nam's Sons. By permission. 



224 MAKERS OF VIEGINIA HISTORY. 

tion of a president, and this honor fell by unanimous 
vote to Pendleton, who came to the convention as the 
delegate from Caroline county. This was indeed an 
honor, when we remember that ten years before this 
event Pendleton had been thrown from a horse and had 
dislocated his hip. In consequence he was a cripple, 
and therefore he was unfitted, in a way, to be a presiding 
officer. But though he could not rise to his feet to put 
the motions, he presided with satisfaction to his col- 
leagues. His voice was often heard in debate, advoca- 
ting the adoption of the Constitution, and his sup- 
port was of inestimable service to Madison, who prob- 
ably did more than any one else to prevail upon the 
convention to ratify the Constitution. 

When Pendleton died in 1803 he was mourned 
throughout the whole state. The governor and council 
of Virginia wore crape for a month in respect of his 
memory. For fifty years he had been a conspicuous 
figure in Virginia history. His reputation as a lawyer 
was excelled by no man in the state, and both friends 
and foes had the greatest regard for his honesty, sin- 
cerity and nobility of character. 

Pendleton started as an apprentice boy bound to 
a master, but by perseverance and diligence in the 
performance of duty, he attained many honorable posi- 
tions. Unlike so many men he never became vain about 



EDMUND PENDLETON. 225 

his abilities, and he always felt that it was only through 
the providence of God that he had met with success. 
In expressing thankfulness for what he had accom- 
plished, he said: ''Not unto me, Lord, but unto 
thy name be the praise. '' 

Review Questions. 

Tell of Pendleton's early life. What positions did he hold 
during- his life? What was his reputation as a lawyer ? What 
was his view at first of the Revolutionary movement ? What 
resolutions did he have offered in the convention of 1776 ? 
Tell how they were received. Tell what Richard Henry Lee 
did in Congress, What did Pendleton think of an Established 
Church ? What was the question of the glebe lands ? Tell of 
the meeting of the convention of 1788 in Richmond. Tell of 
Pendleton's success in life. Why did he succeed ? 

Geog^raphy Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Caroline county. Through what 
counties would you travel on horseback in going from Caro- 
line county to Williamsburg ? 
15 



CHAPTER XVIXI. 

GEORGE MASON. 

1725-1792. 

In Fairfax county, not far from Mount Vernon, is 
Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason, the friend 
and neighbor of 
Washington. George 
Mason was born in 
1725 at Dogue's Neck 
on the Potomac 
River, then in Staf- 
ford county, but now 
a part of Fairfax. 
His father died when 
he was a boy ten years 
old and, like Wash- 
ington, his training 
was left to his mother. 
She devoted herself judiciously to her children, and to 
her George Mason owed much of his high sense of honor 
and nobility of character. He was taught at home^ 




GEORGE MASON. 



GEORGE MASON. 227 

and never attended college, though he was a man of 
culture. 

He grew up as a planter and for a while lived on his 
estate at Dogue's Neck. In 1755 he built Gunston Hall, 
where he lived until his death, devoting most of his time 
to his family and his private affairs. He did not care for 
political office, and advised his sons, 'Ho prefer the happi- 
ness of independence and a private station to the trou- 
bles and vexations of public business." Therefore he 
gave his attention to his plantation, which became 
a great industrial school where the negroes were taught 
such trades as coopering, blacksmithing or carpentering, 
though the vast majority were field hands, and worked 
the wheat, corn and tobacco. From his plantation^, 
Mason made large shipments of tobacco to England. 

It was not till 1775 that Mason became an active 
participant in any of Virginia's revolutionary councils, 
though he had watched keenly every step of the English 
government. He often talked with Washington about 
the state of affairs, and was the author of the '^ non- 
importation" agreement of 1769, and of a series of 
resolutions adopted by citizens of Fairfax county in 
denunciation of England. In July, 1775, he was a 
delegate to the convention, and was made one of the 
members of the Committee of Safety, of which 
Pendleton was chairman. This Committee of Safety 



228 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

managed the affairs while the convention was not in 
session. 

When Pendleton's resolutions for independence were 
adopted, a committee of twenty-eight was appointed 
to prepare a Declaration of Rights and a constitution. 
Mason was put on this committee, and to his pen we 
are indebted for the Declaration of Rights, often 
called the Bill of Rights, and also for our first consti- 
tution. 

The Declaration of Rights is the ground work of the 
government of Virginia. It declares that all men are 
created equal, free and independent; that all power is de- 
rived from the people ; that government is instituted for 
the common benefit, protection and security of the peo- 
ple; that no man or set of men is entitled to exclusive or 
separate privileges; that all men having common inter- 
est in the community should have the right to vote, and 
that the freedom'of the press should never be restricted. 
It further states, 'Hhat no free government or a blessing 
of liberty can be preserved to any people but by firm 
adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality 
and virtue,'' and ''that religion can be directed only by 
reason and conviction, not by force or violence, and 
therefore, that all men are equally entitled to the free 
exercise of religion according to the dictates of con- 
science, and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice 



GEORGE MASON. 



229 



Christian forbearance, love and charity towards each 
other/' 

After some debate the Declaration of Rights was 
adopted on the 12th of June, 1776, and on the 29th day 
of the same month, the Constitution of Virginia was 
approved. Thus Virginia became a republic and if we 
can believe the accounts that have been handed down, 
George Mason is entitled to 
the credit of having written 
both of these documents of 
which every Virginian is so 
justly proud. 

George Mason seems like- 
wise to have designed the 
seal of Virginia which repre- 
sents ^'Virtue, the genius 
of the Commonwealth dressed like an Amazon, resting 
on a spear with one hand and holding a sword with the 
other, and treading Tyranny represented by a man 
prostrate, a crown fallen from his head, a broken chain 
in his left hand and a scourge in his right." Above 
the head of Virtue is placed the words '^Virginia,'' and 
underneath the figure the words, " Sic semper tyrannis.'' 

For a while Mason served in the legislature of Vir- 
ginia, but he had cared little for political life, and de- 
clined to become a member of the Continental Congress. 




THE STATE SEAL OF VIRGINIA. 



230 MAKERS OF VIKGINIA HISTORY. 

In 1780 he retired from public life. Judging from what 
Madison wrote at that time, he was a great sufferer with 
the gout. There were strong demands that he should 
return to public life, but he positively declined to do so. 

In 1784 Virginia had a quarrel with Maryland over 
navigation of the Potomac River. The legislature of 
Virginia appointed four commissioners to meet com- 
missioners from Maryland to draw up an agreement 
concerning the navigation of the river. Though Mason 
was not a member of the legislature, he was made a 
commissioner and was placed first on the list. Out of 
the meeting of these commissioners grew a call for a 
convention to meet at Annapolis, Maryland, to con- 
sider amendments to the Constitution of the United 
States. The result of the Annapolis Convention was 
the assembling of a general convention in Philadelphia 
in 1787. 

To this convention Virginia appointed seven delegates : 
George Washington, Patrick Henry, Edmund Randolph, 
John Blair, James Madison, George Mason and George 
Wythe. Patrick Henry declined to serve and Joseph 
McClurg was appointed in his place. Mason, though 
suffering severely with the gout, accepted the appoint- 
ment and went to Philadelphia, where he took a prom- 
inent part in the matters under discussion. He did not 
want a president, for fear that such an official might 



GEOEGE MASON. 231 

assume too many powers. He was the real author of 
the so-called Connecticut plan by which the states were 
to be represented in the House of Representatives ac- 
cording to population, while each state was to have 
two senators. Because the convention adopted a Con- 
stitution without a Bill of Rights and placed so many 
restrictions upon the states he refused to sign the 
Constitution. On returning home from Philadelphia, 
he was elected a member of the Virginia Conven- 
tion of 1788, to which the Constitution of the 
United States was submitted for adoption, and in 
this body he warmly supported Patrick Henry in try- 
ing to reject the new Constitution. In spite of all op- 
position, however, that instrument of government was 
adopted by the close vote of eighty-nine to seventy- 
nine. 

Upon the adjournment of the convention, George 
Mason retired to his home, Gunston Hall, where he spent 
the remainder of his life. During this period he took 
a deep interest in politics, and was often consulted by 
the Virginia leaders. In 1790, on the death of William 
Grayson, a senator of the United States, George Mason 
was appointed by Governor Randolph to that responsi- 
ble position, but he refused to accept. Doubtless his 
ill health, caused from the gout, influenced him to de- 
cline so merited an honor. 



232 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

He died at Gunston Hall on the 7th of October, 1792. 
He was buried beside his wife in the burying ground on 
the family estate. No monument marks his grave. 
He left an estate of fifteen thousand acres of land on the 
Potomac and sixty thousand acres in Kentucky, some 
three hundred slaves, and more than fifty thousand 
dollars' worth of personal property. 

Mason was one of Virginia's great men. As author of 
the Declaration of Rights and of the first constitution of 
Virginia he should always be remembered by true and 
loyal sons of the Old Dominion. He never sought 
political office, and it was only at the request and en- 
treaty of his friends that he ever accepted public posi- 
tions. He stands among the most prominent of our 
Revolutionary leaders because of his wisdom, virtue, 

and patriotism. 

Review Questions. 

Tell of the early life of George Mason, Tell of his home 
at Gunston Hall. What interest did he take in the affairs of 
Virginia before 1775 ? What did he become in 1775? Tell of 
the Declaration of Rights and of the first constitution of Vir- 
ginia. Describe the seal of Virginia. Why did he retire 
from political life ? What came out of the meeting of Vir- 
ginia and Maryland commissioners in 1784? Tell of Mason in 
the convention of 1787. What position did he take in the 
convention of 1788 ? Why should Mason be remembered ? 

Geography Study, 

Map of Virginia. — Find the Potomac River, StaflPord 
county, Fairfax county, and Alexandria. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
1743-1826. 

Virginia has contributed many 
master minds to our national his- 
tory, and among them Thomas 
Jefferson ranks first. He probably 
gave to the United States, and it 
may be said to the whole world, 
more broad principles of govern- 
ment than any other one man. 
Wherever republican forms of 
government exist, and wherever 

political equality is the principle of government, there 
the name of Jefferson will always be uttered with rever- 
ence and respect. 

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743, at Shad- 
well, near Charlottesville, Virginia. His father was 
Peter Jefferson and his mother was Jane Randolph. 
Jefferson's education began when he was five years of 
age under a private tutor. When he grew older he was 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



234 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

sent to a private school. At seventeen, he was ready 
to enter college. He was a slender young man, thin and 
raw boned, with reddish hair and grayish hazel eyes. He 
was not then regarded as handsome, but his face showed 
great intelligence. When he became a man he was six 
feet, two inches high. He was fond of shooting and 
one of the best horsemen in Virginia. Like Henry, he 
loved music, and as he rode on horseback to William 
and Mary College in 1760, he carried with him his be- 
loved fiddle. 

During his first year at college he studied little, pre- 
ferring to spend his time at social festivities. Whenever 
a ball was given in the Apollo room of the old Raleigh 
Tavern, the young student from Albemarle was sure to 
be present. After his first year at William and Mary, 
however, he studied hard, often fifteen hours a day, and 
is said to have graduated from the college with honor. 
He then began his study of law under the eminent 
lawyer, George Wythe, who became the first professor 
of law at William and Mary College. Jefferson seems to 
have been on intimate terms with his professors. He 
dined constantly with Professor Small and Mr. Wythe, 
and was often the companion of Governor Fauquier, a 
gay and accomplished gentleman. 

Not far from Williamsburg lived a rich lawyer, John 
Wayles, and with him his widowed daughter, Mrs. Mar- 



THOMAS JEFFEKSON. 



235 



tha Skelton. As she was fond of music, Jefferson spent 
many a pleasant evening at her home, ''The Pines. '^ 
On the first of January, 1772, they were married and 
began their journey to Jefferson^ s beautiful estate, 
''Monticello,'^ about two miles from Charlottesville. 
The weather was bad, and before they reached the end 
of their journey, they had to leave the carriage and pro- 
ceed on horse- 
back. When they 
arrived at Mon- 
ticello, the fires 
were all out and 
the servants were 
away from the 
house. The dark, 
snow-covered 
mountain pre- "the pines," where jefferson was married. 
sented a dreary 

prospect to the young couple ; but they were very happy 
and only joked and laughed at their experience. They 
went into a pavilion in the yard, and . Jeff erson found 
in a bookcase some biscuits and wine, which were the 
only refreshments that he could offer his bride. 

At the time of his marriage, Jefferson was twenty- 
nine years old. He had been practising law for five 
years and had been a member of the assembly from 




236 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Albemarle county since 1769. As soon as he became a 
member of the House of Burgesses, he joined the party 
that was opposing the British government. He was by 
nature a bold and fearless thinker, and when a mere boy 
he had had engraved on a seal as his motto, "Resist- 
ance to tyrants is obedience to God,'' a principle to 
which he held throughout his long and eventful life. 

Jefferson was present when the House of Burgesses 
passed the resolutions of 1769. He was one of those 
who signed the agreement not to import goods from 
England. He was also a member of the House of 
Burgesses, when, in 1773, it established a Committee of 
Correspondence between Virginia and the other colo- 
nies. Some think that the resolutions for such a com- 
mittee were drawn by Jefferson, though they were 
offered in the House by his kinsman, Dabney Carr. Of 
this committee Jefferson was a member. He served 
again in the House of Burgesses in 1774, and was one 
who voted for the resolution appointing a day of fasting 
and prayer because of the oppressive measures which 
England had passed against the city of Boston. When 
the governor dissolved the assembly, Jefferson met with 
those discontented members who called for a general 
congress of the colonies and asked the freeholders of 
Virginia for a convention to consider the state of the 
colony. To this convention, Jefferson was returned by 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 237 

the people of Albemarle. In 1775 he was elected a 
member of the Continental Congress. When he took 
his seat in that body he was a young man of thirty- 
two, and was already known as an eloquent writer and 
a Revolutionist. 

The following year, there came to the Virginia mem- 
bers of Congress instructions from the Virginia conven- 
tion that the united colonies should be declared free and 
independent states ; and accordingly Richard Henry Lee, 
called the American Cicero, moved that a Declaration 
of Independence should be adopted. In accordance 
with the motion, a committee was appointed and the 
members were elected by ballot. Jefferson's facility for 
writing was so well known to the Congress, that he re- 
ceived the highest number of votes and was named as 
chairman of the committee over such men as John 
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert 
R. Livingston. To him as chairman fell the task of 
drafting that immortal document which stands in the 
history of the world as the most revolutionary political 
paper ever written. On the fourth of July, 1776, the 
instrument, practically as offered by Jefferson, was unan- 
imously adopted and to it were placed the signatures of 
all the members of Congress then present, except one. 
The principles set forth in that document mean a gov- 
ernment by and for the people, and show that Jefferson 



238 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



239 



was far ahead of his day; for it is only at the dawn of 
the twentieth century that we are beginning to com- 
prehend the great and universal truths Jefferson made 
known to the world. 

Jefferson retired from Congress in 1776, returned to 
his native state and entered the Virginia legislature 




MONTICELLO, JEFFERSON's HOME. 



with the hope of revising and modifying her laws so 
that they might accord with republican government. 
Believing in freedom of thought he did not see how 
there could be an Established Church, or how a law could 
exist whereby preachers not agreeing with that church 
should be imprisoned. Jefferson thought of those 
preachers of the Baptist faith who were arrested in 
Spotsylvania^ Caroline, Chesterfield, Culpeper^ Or^aiige 



240 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

and Middlesex counties. He remembered how in Cul- 
peper a plot was formed to poison one preacher in 
jail, and how three were tried in Spotsylvania county, 
for '^ preaching the gospel of Christ contrary to the 
law.'^ Patrick Henry, who was present at the trial, 
suddenly arose and exclaimed: ^^May it please your 
worships, what did I hear read? Did I hear an ex- 
pression that these men whom your worships are about 
to try are charged with preaching the gospel of the Son 
of God?'^ It is said that on that occasion the prose- 
cuting attorney turned pale. While religious prosecu- 
tion existed in Virginia, about thirty preachers, all told, 
were imprisoned on the ground that they violated the 
peace of the community. 

In addition to the Baptists, there were many 
other dissenters — Presbyterians, Quakers and Metho- 
dists. At the commencement of the American Revo- 
lution, the members of these sects were strong republi- 
cans and favored the overthrow of English rule in 
America; Hawks, in his ^'History of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, " tells us that the Baptist preachers 
advised the young men of their churches to enlist in the 
Continental Army and in the state troops. The dis- 
senters asked the legislature to do away with an Es- 
tablished Church. They had the support of the more 
liberal-minded members of the Established Church, and 



THOMAS JEFFERSON. 241 

also of the most prominent political leaders of the state. 
Among the latter were Jefferson and Madison. 

In 1776, Jefferson tried to disestablish the Church en- 
tirely; in this he was not successful, but only suc- 
ceeded in securing a bill which allowed all religious de- 
nominations to have their houses of worship and all men 
to preach without molestation. The dissenting min- 
isters were not allowed to perform marriage or funeral 
rites until 1785. In that year, Jefferson's famous bill 
for religious liberty, introduced and championed by Mr. 
Madison, passed the Virginia legislature and established 
complete religious free- 
dom in the state . Liv- 
ing in this day and 
feneration when '^^^ autograph of jefferson. 

everybody has a right to have and to follow his own reli- 
gious views, it is hard to realize that one hundred years 
ago no country in the world allowed freedom of reli- 
gion; even to-day all of the countries of Europe have 
an established church. 

Jefferson felt also that the entail and primogeniture 
system should be abolished. By this law, it was pro- 
vided that the eldest son should inherit the landed fam- 
ily estate and that this could not be sold, but should 
pass from father to son and thus be retained in the 

family. According to Jefferson, this meant an aristoc- 
16 




242 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

racy, which, he beUeved, should not exist in a repubhc. 
In advocating his bill to abolish entails, Jefferson had 
strong opponents to contend with, including that wise 
and eminent statesman, Edmund Pendleton. Never- 
theless the legislature passed the bill abolishing the 
entail and primogeniture system, and thus the last sur- 
vival of English aristocracy was destroyed in the re- 
public of Virginia.* 

Still other schemes for Virginia had this far-seeing 
Jefferson. He believed that all men should have a 
voice in the government, but feared that they might 
give bad rather than good government, unless they were 
educated. He therefore proposed the establishment of 
primary and high schools throughout the state, with a 
state university as a capstone. The legislature adopted 
his plans, but they were never fully put into operation, 
and his scheme for the establishment of a university was 
not accomplished until 1819. He was then an old man 
and had retired from Dublic life. After various ex- 
ertions he saw the university established at Charlottes- 
ville on broad and liberal plans. He became its first 
rector, and brought to this country some of the greatest 

* He was anxious for the abolition of slavery and proposed a plan 
for future emancipation. His idea was to set a certain year and 
day after which all negroes born of slave parents should be made free, 
and should be carried out of the state. Deportation was his solution 
of the negro problem. 



THOMAS JEFFEKSOK 



243 



scholars of Europe to instruct the young Virginians. 
He planned well the institution which was the darling 
of his old age, for it has not only educated many of the 




From a lii'int of 1831. 

THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. 

leaders of our state, but has likewise wielded a great in- 
fluence over the whole South. 

From June, 1779, to June, 1781, Jefferson was gov- 
ernor of Virginia. At this time the state was invaded 
by the British troops, and Jefferson and the legislature 
were forced to flee from Richmond to Charlottesville, 
from which place they were driven by Tarleton. Jeffer- 
son lacked the troops and the money with which to 
defend Virginia properly, though he did all that lay in 
his power.* 

* It was during his administration as governor that Virginia, with 
the patriotism and sacrifice that should never be forgotten, ceded to 
the United States that magnificent territory which was hers by- 
charter right as well as by the conquest of George Rogers Clark. Vir- 



24:i MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTOKY. 

Jefferson did a great work for his state, but he did 
much Ukewise for the United States. He served in 
Congress from 1783 to 1784; was Minister to France 
from 1784 to 1789, and was a member of Washington's 
cabinet, being the first Secretary of State. In the latter 
position he showed himself a believer in states' rights, 
claiming that Congress should not legislate about mat- 
ters which were not expressly provided for in the Con- 
stitution of the United States. These views mark him 
as the founder of what we now call the Democratic 
party. 

After serving one term as Vice-President, he was 
elected President of the United States and presided 
over the affairs of our nation for eight years. During 
his administration that vast territory called Louisiana, 
from which have been carved the states of Louisiana, 
Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, 
Wyoming and the Dakotas, was purchased from France 
for fifteen millions of dollars, and thus our dominions 
were nearly doubled. 

On his retirement from the presidency in 1809, Jeffer- 
son went to spend the remaining days of his life at 
Monticello. Here he did not remain inactive, but took 

ginia did this for the sake of the Union, for Maryland had refused to 
be a member of the Union, so long as any of the states held the 
western lands. 



THOMAS JEFFEESOK. 



245 



a deep, interest in the affairs of Virginia and of the 
United States. He was consulted for nearly a quarter 
of a century by the leaders of the Democratic party, and 
was spoken of as the 
^^SageofMonticello/' He 
devoted much thought to 
education, especially to 
the university. To his 
home came travelers, 
tourists, and friends from 
all parts of the country. 
His housekeeper often 
had to provide fifty beds 
for his guests. Through 
his generosity and hospi- 
tality his fortune of some 
two hundred thousand 
dollars slipped away, and, 
at the time of his death 
nothing was left save his 
estate at Monticello, and 
that was loaded with debt. He died on the fourth of 
July, 1826, just fifty years after the Declaration of In- 
dependence had been signed. 

Jefferson desired to be remembered for three things: 
as the '^ Author of the Declaration of American Inde- 




Valentine. 
THE STATUE OP JEFFERSON AT 
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 



246 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

pendence ; of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Free- 
dom/ and the Father of the University of Virginia" 
— and these three things place him in the front rank of 
our great men. 

Review Questions. 

Tell of Jefferson's early life and student days. Tell of his 
marriage and trip to Monticello. Tell of Jefferson in the 
House of Burgesses. Tell of Jefferson in the Continental 
Congress, and of the drafting of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. What were Jefferson's views of government ? Give 
an account of the way dissenting preachers were treated. 
What was done to the Established Church ? Tell of the en- 
tail and primogeniture system. Give Jefferson's scheme of 
education. Tell of the University of Virginia. Tell of Jef- 
fersoQ as governor. What offices did he hold under the 
United States ? What party did he found ? Tell of his life at 
Monticello. When did he die? Write a composition on 
Jefferson. 

Geography Study. 

Map of Southern and Western States. — Find Louisiana, 
Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Montana, 
Wyoming, North and South Dakota. Map of Virginia. — 
Find Albemarle county, and Charlotte. Through what coun- 
ties would you pass in going from Williamsburg to Charlottes- 
ville? 



CHAPTER XX. 



JAMES MADISON. 

1751-1836. 

The fourth President of the United States and the 
third President from Virginia was James Madison. He 
was born in 1751 at Port Conway, King George county, 
Virginia, at the home of his 
mother's father, Mr. Francis 
Conway. His father was James 
Madison, who hved at Mont- 
peher, in Orange county. 

At an early age Madison was 
sent to school to Donald Ro- 
bertson, a Scotchman, whom 
Madison spoke of as the learned 
teacher in King and Queen 
county, Virginia. At eighteen he entered Princeton 
College in New Jersey, from which institution he was 
graduated in 1772, but he remained at college one 
year longer for the purpose of studying Hebrew. On 
his return to Montpelier he taught his brothers and 




JAMES MADISON. 



248 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

sisters, and at this time he probably had some idea of 
becoming a preacher. 

When Madison was only twenty-five years old Orange 
county honored him by making him a member of the 
convention in 1776. After the first constitution for 
Virginia was adopted he became a member of the legis- 
lature in 1776, but the following year he failed to be re- 
elected. His defeat was due to the fact that he refused 
to observe the custom of treating at elections,* because 
he believed that it was wrong to get votes by furnishing 
whisky, wine, cider, and dinners. 

For a while Madison was a member of the governor's 
council in Virginia, and in 1780 he became a delegate to 
the Congress at Philadelphia, where he remained for 

* No man was allowed to vote who did not own at least twenty-five 
acres of land with a house on it, or fifty acres of unimproved land. 
On account of these requirements the body of voters was not large 
in number and the elections were always held at the courthouse on 
court day, usually in April. There were no ballots in t;hose days, but 
every man voted openly. The sheriff of the county was the presiding 
oificer at the election and there were two clerks who kept the account 
of the voters and the man for whom they voted. The candidates for 
office usually sat in the courthouse on the judges' bench. When a 
man voted, he told the sheriff the name of the person for whom he 
voted. The sheriif would then call out the name of the voter and the 
person voted for. At once the candidate who received the vote 
would rise and thank the voter. On the outside of the courthouse 
were friends of the candidate, who dealt out many drinks of wine, 
whisky, and cider to those persons who had supported or were sup- 
porting their candidates. They often furnished the voters with 
dinner. 



JAMES MADISON. 249 

three years. On retiring from Congress, Madison again 
became a member of the Virginia legislature, at which 
time he carried through Jefferson's bill for religious 
liberty. He also caused commissioners to be appointed 
by Virginia who should meet with commissioners from 
Maryland to discuss the navigation of the Potomac. 
The meeting of these commissioners showed Madison 
how weak the government of the United States was, so 
he drew a resolution which was offered in the Virginia 
legislature by John Tyler, Sr., calling for a general con- 
vention of the states to meet at Annapolis in 1786, to 
consider changes in the government of the United 
States. When the Annapolis convention met, only five 
states (Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, 
and New York) were represented, so no active steps 
were taken, except that Congress was asked to call a 
convention to meet in Philadelphia in May, 1787, to 
revise the United States government. 

When the convention met, Madison was one of the 
Virginia delegates, and he drew up the plan which was 
made the basis of our 

present Constitution. ^^^..^^ ^^^.^^^V 
Practically all of the ^ 

THE AUTOGRAPH OF MADISON. 

essential features 

were suggested by Madison, and it is for this reason 

that he is called the Father of the Constitution. The 



250 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



convention, on adjourning, submitted the proposed Con- 
stitution to the thirteen states for ratification, with the 
provision that, as soon as nine states should ratify, the 
Constitution should go into operation. 

Virginia called a convention to decide whether she 
should adopt or reject the Constitution. Madison was 
elected a delegate from Orange county, and in the Vir- 
ginia Convention of 1788 was the chief advocate of the 
adoption. Against him was pitted Patrick Henry. Be- 
tween these two 
a great debate 
was carried on. 
Henry's fiery el- 
oquence, filled 
with convincing 
power, was met 
at every point by 



Madison's cold, 
logical reasoning, 
and when the convention voted on the Constitution it 
was found that Madison had won the victory by the 
narrow majority of ten. 

When the United States government was organized 
in 1789, under the present Constitution, Madison 
was a candidate for senator, but Patrick Henry's 
influence defeated him ; however, he ran for the 




MADISON S HOME AT MONTPELIER. 



JAMES MADISON. 251 

House of Representatives and was elected over James 
Monroe. 

After six years in Congress Madison went to live at 
Montpelier,* where he spent his time looking after his 
plantation. He studied the best methods of farming 
and made addresses to farmers' institutes. Farming in 
Virginia was at a very low state in 1800, and Jefferson, 
Madison, and John Taylor of Caroline did much to im- 
prove it. 

When John Adams of Massachusetts was President, 
the Federalists carried through Congress the Alien and 
Sedition laws. Under the Alien law, any foreigner who 
was found in this country and was thought to be a 
suspicious character might be sent out of the United 
States at the will of the President. Under the Sedition 
law, any editor of a newspaper who criticised severely 
the President or the government might be arrested. 
These laws created a storm of indignation in the country, 
and especially in the South. The Jeffersonian party 
claimed that Congress had no right to pass such laws 
and that they were unconstitutional. The legislature 
of Kentucky adopted some resolutions, written by Jeffer- 
son, formally declaring that Congress had no right to 
pass these laws. Resolutions of the same kind, drawn by 

* About this time he married Mrs. Dolly Todd. It is interesting 
to note that Washington and Jefferson also married widows. 



252 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Madison, were introduced into the Virginia legislature 
by John Taylor of Caroline, and, after a warm debate, 
were adopted. These were the famous Virginia reso- 
lutions of 1798. They declared the Alien and Sedition 
laws unconstitutional and appealed to all the states to 
do likewise. 

At once the country became aroused and the Feder- 
alists began to make it appear that the Southern states 
were trying to break up the Union, but Madison said 
that his idea was to strengthen the Union by preventing 
a violation of the Constitution. In order to defend his 
position, Madison became a candidate for the legisla- 
ture from Orange county; he was elected a member for 
the session 1799-1800, and carried through the general 
assembly what is known as ''Madison's Report.'' The 
report declared that there was no purpose to destroy 
the Union, and that, if Congress would hold strictly to 
the Constitution, the Union would not be dissolved. As 
we look back to-day we feel that, if Congress had ad- 
hered strictly to the Constitution of the United States, 
according to Madison's wish, many of the troubles which 
afterward arose in the United States would have been 
avoided, and possibly the great War between the States 
would not have occurred. 

In 1801 Jefferson became President of the United 
States. He at once called Madison, who had been his 



JAMES MADISON. 253 

close friend for so many years, to be Secretary of State, 
a post which Madison for eight years filled with credit 
to himself and with honor to his country. During this 
whole time he was in perfect harmony with Jefferson, 
and when the latter retired from the Presidency, he 
nominated Madison as his successor. From 1809 to 
1817 Madison was President of the United States. 
During this time a second war was fought against Eng- 




THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA AS IT LOOKS TO-DAY. 

land, and Madison so greatly increased the power of the 
United States that he left the White House having the 
respect of the whole country. 

For nineteen years he lived at Montpelier, spending 
the rest of his life as a Virginia planter and gentleman, 
but never idle. Along with Jefferson and Monroe 



254 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

he was a member of the Board of Visitors of the Uni- 
versity of Virginia, and these three ex-Presidents by 
their work and their names made the University the 
great institution that it is. When Jefferson died in 
1826 Madison became the Chancellor of the Univer- 
sity. 

In 1829, after years of controversy, Virginia called a 
constitutional convention to revise the constitution of 
1776. It is an interesting fact that the first resolution 
ever introduced in the Virginia legislature to revise the 
state constitution was offered by Madison in 1784, and 
that forty-five years later the people of Orange sent him 
to represent them in making a new constitution. Hav- 
ing been in the Virginia convention of 1776, and in the 
Federal convention of 1787, he was looked upon as a 
sort of oracle, though he was too old to engage actively 
in debate. On one occasion, when he rose to speak, the 
whole house crowded around him to hear the words that 
fell from his lips. His voice was so weak that his speech 
could not be heard ten steps away from him. At this 
time he was seventy-nine years old and was one of the 
few members of the convention who kept the old style 
of dress. He wore knee trousers and silk stockings, a 
stock and a powdered wig. 

He lived six years longer and died at Montpelier, 
on the 28th of June, 1836, at the advanced age of eighty- 






JAMES MADISON. ' 255 

five. His death was mourned throughout the United 
States. He was a man of broad learning and scholar- 
ship, and in his early days a vigorous debater. He was, 
moreover, the only one of our great leaders whose private 
or public life has not been assailed, and his name will go 
down through the ages as that of an honorable, moble 
and upright man. He not only would not acquire votes 
by treating on election day, but he was one of the few 
temperance men of his day. It is said that Madison 
never drank a quart of brandy in his whole life, and that 
at public dinners where wine was always served, he 
rarely partook of it. ^^ Madison was one of the best 
men that ever lived.'' 

Review Questions. 

Tell of the early Hfe and education of Madison. Tell of his 
election to the convention of 1776 and his failure to be elected to 
the legislature in 1777. Give an account of what Madison had 
to do with calling a convention to draw up the Constitution of 
the United States. Why is Madison called the Father of the 
Constitution ? Tell of Madison in the convention of 1788. What 
interest did Madison take in farming ? What was his attitude 
to the Alien and Sedition laws ? What position did he hold 
under Jefferson ? Tell of his Presidency. Tell of his later 
years at Montpelier. Give an account of Madison in the con- 
vention of 1829-1830. What kind of man was Madison? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Orange, King- George and King 
and Queen counties. Map of New Jersey. — Find Princeton. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
JAMES MONROE. 

1758-1831. 

The fifth President of the United States and the fourth 
great Viriginian to hold that position was James Monroe. 

He was born in 1758 in 
Westmoreland county, not 
far from the birthplace of 
George Washington. James 
Monroe first studied under 
the Rev. Mr. Campbell in 
Westmoreland, and after- 
wards entered William and 
Mary College, then the best 
institution in America. 
When the Revolution came 
on Monroe was one of the 
young students who volunteered and entered the army. 
He soon became a lieutenant and was with Washington 
at all the battles in New York and New Jersey. 
At the battle of Trenton he greatly distinguished him- 




^,^»--^-»'-»-*^ 



JAMES MONROE. 



257 



self. The English were endeavoring to form a six-gun 
battery at the head of King street, when Lieutenant 
Monroe and Captain William Washington rushed for- 
ward with the advance guard and drove the British 
back and seized two pieces of artillery. For his gallan- 
try Monroe was pro- 
moted to a captaincy, 
and later to a lieutenant- 
colonelcy. 

After the Revolution- 
ary War Monroe began 
the study of law privately 
under Jefferson, and thus 
formed a friendship with 
Jefferson which was only 
broken by the latter's 
death. When Monroe was only twenty-three years 
of age he became a member of the legislature, and 
the year following he was sent to Congress, in 
which he served three years. In 1787 he was again 
a member of the Virginia legislature, and in 1788 
was a member of the convention of Virginia which 
ratified the United States Constitution. When the 
Constitution went into operation the first senators 
were Richard Henry Lee and William Grayson. On 

the death of Grayson a year later Monroe was elected 
17 




{From av. old miniature.) 

MRS. JAJIES MONROE. 



258 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

to take his place and served in the Senate for four 
years. 

In 1794 Washington appointed Monroe as Minister 
to France. On his arrival, the French Convention 
gave him a hearty welcome, and instructed the pre- 
siding officer to give to " citizen Monroe ^^ the accolad. 
The accolad consisted of an embrace and a kiss im- 
printed upon the cheek. France was on the point of 
going to war with England, and, as Monroe was very 
friendly to the French and said some things that he 
ought not to have made public, Washington recalled 
him in disgrace. On returning to America he did not 
even call to see Washington, but went straight home, 
and wrote a criticism of the way in which Washington 
had treated him. Jefferson remained his friend, and 
two years later, the Jeffersonian party nominated 
Monroe for governor of Virginia, to which position 
the legislature elected him for three successive years. 

In 1803 Jefferson, who was then President, was very 
anxious to buy from France the city of New Orleans 
near the mouth of the Mississippi River, so that the 
United States might be sure of the right to navigate 
that great river. Robert Livingston, our Minister to 
France at that time, was instructed to enter into ne- 
gotiations for the purchase of New Orleans. Fearing 
that Livingston might not bring about a success- 



JAMES MONROE. 259 

ful issue, Jefferson sent James Monroe as a special 
agent to France to help Livingston. When Monroe 
reached Paris he found that Napoleon was ready to 
sell all of the Louisiana Territory, so he and Livingston 
at once signed a treaty for the whole territory at the 
small sum of fifteen millions of dollars. Though Living- 
ston always claimed the credit for having made the pur- 
chase, it is generally thought that the acquisition of 
the whole territory was made at the advice of Monroe. 

Jefferson had great faith in Monroe, and sent him also 
as an envoy to England, to negotiate with that country, 
if possible, a treaty to prevent the English from stopping 
our ships on the high seas and taking off sailors. In 
this Monroe was unsuccessful, and, therefore, when he 
returned to America in 1807 he was in general disfavor 
with the people. 

For a while he retired from public service and prac- 
ticed law in Fredericksburg. He spoke of being a candi- 
date for the Presidency in 1808, but Jefferson preferred 
Madison and advised Monroe to wait his turn. A year 
later he became a member of the legislature and the 
following year was again made governor of Virginia. 
Hardly had he assumed the governorship before Madi- 
son asked him to become Secretary of State, a position 
which he held for six years, until he became President 
of the United States. 



260 MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

As Secretary of State Monroe advised Madison to 
wage war against England. While the war was in 
progress Dr. Eustes, the Secretary of War, proved to 
be inefficient and had to be removed by Madison. Mon- 
roe was then made Secretary of War and held that 
position as well as the Secretaryship of State. Monroe 
had something of the spirit of a soldier. He had served 
in the Revolutionary War and was usually spoken of 
as Colonel Monroe. No sooner did he take charge of 
the War Department than new life was put into the 
discouraged American soldiers. Monroe fortified Balti- 
more and saved it from the British. He kept in close 
touch with Andrew Jackson in the South. According 
to Dr. Oilman : ''The dispatches sent to Jackson 
had the ring of determination and authority. Monroe 
appeared at this time in his best aspects; enthusi- 
astic, determined, confident of the popular vote, 
daring. '' 

''Hasten your militia to New Orleans,'^ wrote Monroe 
in rousing dispatches to the governors near the seat of 
war in Louisiana. "Do not wait for this government 
to arm them. Put all the arms you can find into their 
hands. Let every man bring his rifle with him. W^e 
shall see you paid.'' Monroe's conduct during this 
war undoubtedly made for him many friends. 

In 1816 Monroe was elected President by a large 



JAMES MONROE. 



261 




262 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

majority. In 1820 he was reelected, receiving every 
electoral vote except one. The story goes that the 
elector who voted against him did so in order that 
Washington might be the only man ever to be unani- 
mously elected President of the United States. 

Monroe's administration was marked by two things 
of importance. For the sum of three million of dollars 
he purchased Florida from Spain and annexed it to the 
United States, and in 1823 he sent a message to Congress 
in which he said that the United States would not allow 
European countries to seize and colonize any part of 
North or South America. This famous message was 
the basis of what is now commonly called ' ' The Monroe 
Doctrine.'' This doctrine is not a law, as it was sent 
to Congress in a message, but it has been generally ac- 
cepted as an American principle, and the American 
people will be slow to forget the advice which Monroe 
gave them. While Monroe was President there was 
but one party, the Democratic-Republican party, and 
his administration is therefore spoken of as the "Era 
of Good Feeling." 

In 1825 Monroe retired from the Presidency at the 
ripe old age of sixty-seven. The greater part of his 
Jatter days was spent at his home, "Oak Hill," in Lou- 
don county. He served on the Board of Visitors of 
the University of Virginia with Madison and Jefferson. 



JAMES MONEOE. 263 

Monroe always took great interest in his family * and 
relatives, to whom he often gave wholesome advice. 
To a nephew he wrote: '^ Solid merit and virtue alone 
will support and carry you with credit through the 
world/' 

While in retirement at Oak Hill Monroe took a keen 
interest in the affairs of his native county and state. 
He even consented to become a local magistrate in 
Loudon. We can hardly conceive of an ex-Presi- 
dent in these modern days consenting to hold such a 
humble office. Like Madison and Marshall, Monroe 
was elected a member of the constitutional convention 
of 1829-1830, and when the convention met in Rich- 
mond, much to his surprise, he was elected president 
of the body. In this convention Monroe was too feeble 
to take an active part, but he made one speech which 
showed what a wise man he was. A great fight was 
going on between the eastern and western sections of 
the state with regard to how the members of the legis- 
lature should be apportioned to the various sections of 
the state. Monroe pleaded for harmony and begged 
for compromise and concession. He said that but for 
slavery there would be no dissension in Virginia and in 
the Union, and he insisted that all men should face the 

* He married Miss Elisa Kortwright of New York, by whom he 
had two daughters. One married Samuel Gouverneur of New York, 
and the other, Judge George Hay of Virginia. 



264 



MAKERS OF VIKGINIA HISTORY. 



situation and try to remove the evil before some terrible 
calamity should be brought upon the country. 

A year later, on July 4, 1831, Monroe died at the resi- 
dence of his son-in-law, Mr. Gouverneur, in New York. 

He was buried in New 
York, but in 1851 
his body was brought 
to Richmond and in- 
terred in Hollywood 
Cemetery. 

Monroe was nearly 
six feet tall, rather 
firmly set. His face, 
when grave, had the 
expression of stern- 
ness, but a smile usu- 
ally lit up his counte- 
nance and gave him 
the appearance of a 
kind and good man. 
In dress he was al- 
ways a plain and modest gentleman. Like Madison, 
to the day of his death, he retained the old style of 
dress — short trousers, silk stockings, knee buckles and 
low quarter shoes fastened with buckles. He was very 
polite in his bearing and a m.an of great sincerity. 




Monroe's tomb in Hollywood cemetery. 



JAMES MONROE. 265 

Jefferson said of him: '^ Monroe is so honest that if you 
turn his soul inside out, there will not be a spot on it." 
Monroe was never severe in dealing with his political 
opponents. He always tried to have a good word to 
say about everybody. A man who knew him said that 
he never heard Monroe criticise any one harshly, but 
that on one occasion, when compelled to give his opinion 
of John Randolph of Roanoke, Monroe said: '^Mr. 
Randolph is, I think, a capital hand to pull down, but 
I am not aware that he has ever exhibited much skill 
as a builder.'' This homely statement of the character 
of John Randolph is a true one, and well illustrates 
Monroe's judgment of men. A historian has told us 
that in the selection of office holders while he was Presi- 
dent Monroe secured more satisfactory and successful 
men than any President who had preceded him. He 
thoroughly understood men and how to judge them. 
For his long and valuable services to our country he 

hould be ranked by the side of Washington, Jefferson, 

nd Madison. 

Review Questions. 

Tell of Monroe's education. What did he do at the battle 
of Trenton ? With whom did he read law ? Tell what im- 
portant positions he held. Give an account of his experience 
as Minister to France and his recall. Tell of the purchase of 
Louisiana. Why did Monroe return from England in dis- 
favor ? Tell of Monroe as Secretary of State and as Secretary 



266 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

of War. For what is his Presidency known ? How did he 
spend his old age ? Tell of Monroe in the convention of 1829- 
1830. Tell of bis death and burial. What kind of looking 
man was Monroe ? Tell of his ability to judge men. 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Westmoreland and Loudon coun- 
ties. Locate Fredericksburg. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

JOHN MARSHALL. 

1755-1835. 

John Marshall was born in Fauquier county, Vir- 
ginia, about nine miles from Warrenton. His father was 
Thomas Marshall, a planter of limited means, but a 
man of high standing and well- 
known ability. John Marshall 
was the eldest of fifteen children. 
Marshall's early childhood was 
spent in Fauquier county, which 
was then on our frontier, as the 
settlements across the Blue Ridge 
were scattering. So his early 
days were spent in dread of In- 
dian raids and the scalping knife. 

When ten years old, Marshall was sent to Westmoreland 
county to be placed under the instruction of the Rev. 
Mr. Campbell. One of his classmates was James 
Monroe. Here Marshall learned some Latin. A few 
years afterwards he was sent to the Rev. Mr. Thompson, 
a Scotch gentleman. 




JOHN MARSHALL. 



268 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



Towards the close of the Revolution (1780) he spent 
a year at William and Mary College, attending the law 
lectures given by George Wythe, one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, and also the course 
in philosophy, given by Bishop James Madison, then 
President of William and Mary College. 

In 1775, when the news came of the battle of Lexing- 
ton and Concord, the people of Culpeper organized a 
regiment of minute men which contained one hundred 
and fifty men from Culpeper, one hundred from Orange 
and one hundred from Fauquier. They met near the 
old courthouse at Culpeper. These were the first min- 
ute men raised in Virginia. Lawrence Taliaferro of 
Orange was made colonel, Edward Stephens of Cul- 
peper, lieutenant-colonel, and Thomas Marshall of 

Fauquier, major. They 
adopted a flag having on it 
the words, ^'The Culpeper 
Minute Men, Liberty or 
Death." On the flag was 
the picture of a rattlesnake 
with twelve rattles, coiled 
and ready to strike. Under- 
neath were written the words, ''Don't tread on me.'' 
The head of the rattlesnake represented Virginia, and 
the twelve rattles, the other twelve English colonies. 




OR DEATH! 



HONT TREAD ONMB 



THE RATTLESNAKE FLAG. 



JOHN MARSHALL. 269 

John Marshall was a lieutenant in one of the com- 
panies. At this time he is represented as '^ about six 
feet high, straight and rather slender, dark complexion/' 
with ^'eyes dark to blackness," and ^' raven black hair 
of unusual thickness." 

The Culpeper minute men marched to Williamsburg 
and in 1776 took part in the battle at Great Bridge near 
Norfolk, where Lord Dunmore was defeated by General 
Woodford. This was the first of war that John 
Marshall had seen. He was afterwards made captain 
in the Continental service, and was with Washington 
throughout the terrible winter at Valley Forge. In 
1780 he returned to Virginia to take charge of some 
troops to be raised by the state legislature, and it was 
while remaining in Virginia, inactive, that he pursued 
his studies at William and Mary College. Soon after 
this, because there were more officers in the service of 
Virginia than needed, Marshall resigned his commission 
as captain and commenced the practice of law. 
He established his law office in Richmond, and in a 
little while he was one of the best known lawyers who 
practiced before the Court of Appeals. 

Eight times Marshall was a member of the legislature 
of Virginia. In 1788 he was a member of the Federal 
convention and in 1798 he was elected a member of Con- 
gress. Marshall was very decidedly opposed to a polit- 



270 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

ical life. We are told that he did not wish to run for 
Congress, and that only at the persistent entreaty of 
George Washington did he consent to be a candidate. 
Marshall was not a follower of Jefferson, for he belonged 
to the Federalist party, which was regarded by the South- 
ern people rather as a Northern party. Because of his 
politics, therefore, Marshall was not popular in Virginia 
among the masses of the people, who were generally 
Democrats ; yet because of his great ability, he defeated 
Jefferson's candidate, John Clopton, for Congress. 

Marshall made a very active canvas, going to various 
places in Henrico county to hold night meetings among 
the voters. It is reported that at one of these meetings 
there was a big bonfire surrounded by citizens of Henrico 
and that the tall and dignified John Marshall told 
anecdotes and danced jigs to get the favor of his fellow 
citizens. Party feelings ran high at this time. The 
very year in which Marshall was elected to Congress, 
it is said that he was present at a meeting held at the 
theater in Fredericksburg, Virginia. When his presence 
was noted, a strong Democratic citizen of that ancient 
town pointed Marshall out and proposed that he should 
be put out of the theater and escorted out of the town 
with a band playing 'Hhe rogue's march." 

In 1800 John Adams called upon Marshall to be his 
Secretary of State, a position which he filled only a few 



JOHN MAESHALL. 271 

months, for in February, 1801, Adams appointed him 
Chief Justice of the United States. For thirty-four 
years Marshall presided over the Supreme Court of our 
country. These were thirty-four years of great im- 
portance in the history of the United States. It was a 
decision of this court, delivered by Chief Justice Marshall, 
which assumed for the Supreme Court the right to de- 
clare a law of Congress unconstitutional. The principle 
laid down by Marshall in that decision has since been 
held by the Supreme Court, and to-day it is the principle 
which guides our country. The Supreme Court, there- 
fore, through the work of Marshall, is now looked upon 
as the guardian of our rights and liberties. On the 
other hand, Marshall as a presiding officer of the Su- 
preme Court decided a great number of cases in opposi- 
tion to the state's rights doctrine of Jefferson, Madison, 
Monroe and John Taylor of Caroline; and these great 
statesmen declared that Marshall was destroying the 
individual rights of the states and making a nation of 
our country. 

While Chief Justice of the United States Marshall 
never lost interest in his native state. From 1815 to 
1830 there was great desire in certain sections of Vir- 
ginia, especially along the Blue Ridge Mountains and in 
the Valley, to build canals and good roads. The trade of 
the western part of Virginia went to Baltimore, so that 



272 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Richmond and Norfolk, which should have been growing 
cities, were practically small towns. It was hoped that 
by building good roads and canals the trade from the 
western part of the state might be brought to eastern 
Virginia and thus increase the wealth of its cities. 
Marshall was a great believer in building canals and 
roads, commonly spoken of as internal improvements, 
and urged these from time to time. He even consented 
to become a member of the convention which met at 
Charlottesville in 1828, and which urged that the legis- 
lature should do something to make travel and trade 
^easier between the various sections of the state. 

In 1829 he was elected a member of the Constitutional 
Convention, and because of his better state of health, 
he took a more active part in debate than either Madison 
or Monroe. 

After becoming Chief Justice, Marshall continued to 
live in Richmond at the corner of Ninth and Marshall 
streets. The Supreme Court met at Washington, and 
in addition to its meetings, he attended the United 
States circuit courts in Richmond and at Raleigh, N. C. 
There were no railroads in those days and the journey 
between these two places had to be performed on horse- 
back or in stage coach, or more frequently in private 
conveyance. Marshall had an old-fashioned gig in 
which he frequently drove from Richmond to Wash- || 



JOHN MARSHALL. 



273 




THE RESIDENCE OF MARSHALL AT RICHMOND. 



ington and from Richmond to Raleigh. About three 

or four miles from Richmond he owned a farm, 

which was his 

great delight. He 

would often rise 

early in the 

morning and ride 

out to his farm 

with a bag of 

clover seed on the 

saddle behind 

him, sow it with 

his own hand, 

and return to the city. He wrote James Monroe that 

his farm was one of the great pleasures of his life. 

Marshall's chief amusement was playing quoits. He 
learned the game when a boy. He played it while he 
was in the Revolutionary army and he kept it up until 
his death. There was a quoit club in Richmond and 
some of the prominent members were Marshall, William 
Wirt, Wilson Cary, Nicholas and George W. Munford, 
and many others. An artist who saw Marshall at the 
quoit club in the fall of 1829, while the famous Constitu- 
tional Convention was in session, said, '^I watched for 
the coming of the old chief [Marshall]. He soon ap- 
proached with his coat on his arm and his hat in his 
18 



274 MAKEKS OF VIKGINIA HISTORY. 

hand, which he was using as a fan. He walked directly 
up to a large bowl of mint julep which had been prepared, 
drank off a tumbler full of the liquid, smacking his lips, 
and then turned to his companions with a cheerful 
^How are you, gentlemen?' He was looked upon as 
the best pitcher of the day, and could throw heavier 
quoits than any other member of the club. The game 
began with great animation. There were several ties, 
and before long I saw the great Chief Justice of the 
United States down on his knees measuring the con- 
tested distance with a straw with as much earnestness 
as if it had been a point of law, and if he proved to 
be in the right, the woods would ring with his tri- 
umphant shout.'' 

In 1831 Marshall's wife died, a shock from which 
he never recovered. In 1835 his health began to decline 
rapidly, and he went to Philadelphia for an operation. 
There he died on July 6th. His body was taken to 
Richmond and buried by the side of his wife in Schockoe 
Hill cemetery.* 

*Here you may see two simple headstones : one marked, "John 
Marshall, son of Thomas and Mary Marshall, was born the twenty- 
fourth day of September, 1755, intermarried with Mary Willis Ambler, 
the third of January, 1783, departed this life the sixth day of July, 
1835." On his wife's tombstone you will read: " Sacred to the mem- 
ory of Mrs. Mary Willis Marshall, consort of John Marshall, born the 
thirteenth of March, 1766, departed this life, the twenty-fifth of 
December, 1831. This stone is erected to her memory by him who 
best knew her worth and most deplores her loss." 



JOHN MARSHALL. 275 

Marshall was a very religious man. He was a con- 
stant attendant upon the Episcopal Church in which 
he was brought up. It is said that Marshall never 
went to bed without saying the prayers which his 
mother taught him when a child. He was indeed a 
bright example of that true manhood, which consists in 
the union of the greatest ability with the greatest 

virtue. 

Review Questions. 

Tell of Marshall's early life and education. Give an account 
of the Culpeper minute men. Describe Marshall's appearance 
at this time. Tell of Marshall's connection with the Revolu- 
tionary war. Tell what civil offices he held. Describe his 
canvass for Congress. Why did some people threaten to put 
him out of a theater in Fredericksburg ? Tell of Marshall as 
Chief Justice of the United States. How did he travel from 
Richmond to Washington ? What interest did he take in his 
state ? Describe an evening at the quoit club. Tell of his 
death. What kind of man was Marshall ? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Orange, Culpeper, Fauquier, 
and Henrico counties. Locate Warrenton, Williamsburg, Rich- 
mond and Fredericksburg. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
JOHN RANDOLPH. 



1773-1833. 



On a high hill in Chesterfield county, overlooking the 
Appomattox River, there could have been seen in the 

year 1773 a fine old 
mansion surrounded by a 
lawn beautifully laid out 
with winding walks. This 
was the birthplace of John 
Randolph of Roanoke, son 
of John and Frances Ran- 
dolph. He was a de- 
scendant of Pocahontas, 
and was proud of the 
Indian blood that coursed 
through his viens. 

From a child, John Ran- 
dolph was very fond of 
reading, and even before he was eleven years old he had 
read many of the plays of Shakespeare. Instead of spend- 




JOHN RANDOLPH. 



JOHN RANDOLPH. 277 

ing his time in the enjoyment of athletic sports, he would 
steal away to an old closet with a book. But we must 
not think that all of his boyhood was spent in reading, 
for he loved to roam over the fields, and also liked to fish. 

He was sent, when about nine years old, to a school 
in Orange county. Soon afterwards he went to Williams- 
burg to attend the grammar school connected with 
William and Mary College. While there he would 
often go down to the old capitol to study his Greek at 
the foot of Lord Botetourt's statue, over which a large 
clock ticked slowly and quietly. Later he was a stu- 
dent at Princeton and Columbia colleges. He despised 
college honors, and whenever his turn came to speak in 
a contest for them, he purposely did his worst. 

Randolph was devotedly fond of his mother. ''She 
knew better than anyone else the disposition of her sad, 
sweet child,'' with his, at times, uncontrollable temper, 
but withal tenderhearted. Her death was a shock from 
which he never recovered. This great calamity befell 
him in his fifteenth year while he was a student at 
Princeton College. He always kept her picture in his 
room, and whenever he was in Petersburg or its 
vicinity he went and wept over her grave. 

In 1799 John Randolph became a candidate for Con- 
gress. There were at this time two political parties, 
the Federalist and the Democratic-Republican. The 



278 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

former favored the Alien and Sedition laws, and the 
latter strongly opposed them. Patrick Henry, now 
grown very old, thought that no state should pass such 
resolutions as had been recently agreed upon by the 
Virginia legislature. Despite his infirm age he thought 
it his duty to become a candidate for a seat in the legis- 
ture of his state. John Randolph was a Democratic- 
Republican and was in favor of the " Resolutions of 
'98," as he considered the Alien and Sedition laws con- 
trary to the Constitution and the principles of liberty. 

March Court day was the time set for Patrick Henry 
to address the people of Charlotte county. Everyone 
thought that it would be the last public speech that the 
veteran orator would ever make, so great numbers of 
people assembled at Charlotte Courthouse that day. 
All the students and professors of the college (Hampden- 
Sidney) in Prince Edward county, an adjoining county 
to Charlotte, went to hear him. While the aged patriot 
was walking along the streets, great crowds were throng- 
ing about him. A pious Baptist preacher who was pres- 
ent declared that such reverence to any mortal was 
almost idolatry, and he said to the people, ''Mr. Henry 
is not a god"; to which the latter replied, ''No, indeed; 
I am only a poor worm of the dust." 

It was noticed that a tall, beardless, gawky, but good- 
looking, young man was also moving through the crowd 



JOHN RANDOLPH. 



279 



shaking hands with the people. This was John Ran- 
dolph, the Democratic-Republican candidate for Con- 
gress. He had never made a public speech, but now 
determined to answer Henry. The people had no idea 




From an old print. 

ROANOKE, THE HOME OF JOHN RANDOLPH. 

that he would dare to meet the great orator, and they 
did not speak in a complimentary manner of the young 
candidate. Such remarks as the following could be 
heard: ^'And is that the man who is a candidate for 
Congress?'' ^'Ishe going to speak against old Pat?'' 
''Why, he's nothing but a boy — he's got no beard." 
'' Old Pat will eat him up bodily." 

When the time came for the speaking to begin, James 



280 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Adams mounted the platform and cried out: '^O, yes! 
0, yes! Colonel Henry will address the people for the 
last time, and at the risk of his life! '' The grand jury, 
which was in session at that time, rushed through doors 
and windows and joined the eager crowd. Henry spoke 
with such fervor and eloquence as was his wont, and 
when he closed, it is said that his ''audience wept like 
children/' 

It was now Mr. Randolph's turn to speak in reply. 
At first he stood for a while silent, his eyes filled with 
tears, but the astonished crowd was soon greeted with 
such words as none but a great orator can utter. He 
spoke very respectfully of Patrick Henry, but at the 
same time replied to his arguments with fiery eloquence. 
For two hours his hearers stood and breathlessly drank 
down ''every word that fell from his lips.'' Henry came 
up and shook hands with him, and they took dinner 
together that day. Both candidates were elected. 

Mr. Randolph was thus elevated to a seat in the House 
of Representatives, of which body he was a member for 
twenty-four .years. During this time he was a promi- 
nent figure. He was not a great leader, nor was he a 
strict adherent to any party in Congress. On the whole 
he was a Democrat, that is, a follower of Jefferson, but 
he differed from Jefferson on many points about gov- 
ernment. Randolph was always true to one principle 



JOHN RANDOLPH. 281 

— namely, that the Congress of the United States had a 
right to pass laws only on such subjects as were expressly 
named in the Constitution. 

Had Randolph's views been accepted by Congress 
there would never have been any Civil War. He con- 
stantly warned Congress about its legislation. He 
believed in the rights of the states, and he tried to keep 
Congress from taking any rights away from the states. 
An example of his far-sightedness was shown in 1820, 
when he declared that Congress had no right to draw a 
line through the territory of the United States and say 
that north of that line slavery could not exist. He 
was one who voted against the measure. In after 
years the Supreme Court of the United States declared 
the law unconstitutional; in other words, acknowledged 
that Randolph had been right. 

He was in the United States Senate two years, and 
for a while was Minister to Russia. He likewise served 
in the Virginia Convention of 1829-1830, and con- 
stantly opposed any change in the Constitution of 
1776, claiming that it was the best that the world 
had ever seen. 

While Randolph was in the Senate he made a speech 
in which he violently attacked the character of Henry 
Clay. He was very much excited and probably did not 
know how grave a charge he was making against his 



282 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



political enemy. Clay considered that his honor could 
be upheld only by challenging his accuser to a duel. The 
challenge was accepted, and a time and place appointed 

for a meeting. Before 
the duel was fought 
Randolph told two of 
his friends that, al- 
though he was one of 
the best shots in Vir- 
ginia, he was going to 
fire his pistol into the 
air. He said that he had 
no intention of causing 
Clay's wife and chil- 
dren to mourn the loss 
of a husband and 
father, and, therefore, 
he had resolved to 
throw away his shot. 
The two great statesmen 
met one afternoon on the banks of the Potomac to 
engage in what might prove to be a deadly encounter. 
When the word was given, Clay fired at his antagonist, 
but the shot did not take effect. Randolph fired his 
pistol into the air. Clay then came up to Randolph and 
said: ''I trust in God, my dear sir, you are untouched; 




HENRY CLAY. 



JOHN RANDOLPH. 283 

after what has occurred, I would not harm you for a 
thousand worlds." 

Randolph's health had in the later years of his life 
become wretched. In 1833 he started on a voyage to 
England for the benefit of his health, but did not get 
farther than Philadelphia, where he died on the twenty- 
fourth of May of the same year. His remains were 
carried to Virginia and buried on his estate on the Roa- 
noke River in Charlotte county, where many years of 
his life had been spent. By his will his slaves were 
freed and provision was made for buying land for them 
in some state other than Virginia. 

John Randolph was in some ways a strange man. 
He cared little for public opinion and so took no pains 
to hide his faults or show his virtues. The world in 
general and his political enemies in particular usually 
saw only the bad side of his character. They regarded 
him as an irritable, high-tempered, and unfeeling, though 
brilliant man, who took pleasure in causing people pain 
by hurling his ' ' withering sarcasm ' ^ at them. He doubt- 
less had many of the faults that he was accused of, but 
he also had many good traits of character, which none 
but his intimate friends appreciated. To them he 
unbosomed himself, and they accordingly knew and 
loved him. 

Next to the death of his mother the blow that cut the 



284 MAKEES OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

deepest wound in his heart was a disappointment in 
love. When the Enghsh invaded Virginia in 1781, 
the Randolph family left their home, ''Matoax/' to go 
to another estate that they owned. On their way they 
stopped for a few days at the home of Mr. Benjamin 
Ward, Jr. Here young Randolph found a very agree- 
able playmate in Mr. Ward's little daughter. They 
were both children then, but this same little girl, grown 
into womanhood, was the one with whom, in after years, 
he fell violently in love. Circumstances prevented 
their marriage, and he was afterwards pained to learn 
that she had married another. This disappointment 
destroyed his happiness and spoiled his disposition. We 
should always remember what troubles and afflictions 
he endured before passing harsh judgment upon his 

character. 

Review Questions. 

Where was John Randolph born ? From whom was he 
descended ? Tell of his early life and education. Describe the 
day at Charlotte Courthouse when Patrick Henry and Ran- 
dolph spoke. How long" was Randolph in Congress ? What 
did he think were the rights of Congress ? What offices 
did he hold ? Tell of his duel with Henry Clay. Tell of his 
death. What sort of man was Randolph ? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Trace the Appomattox River. Locate 
Charlotte county, Petersburg, Williamsburg and Orange 
county. What are the adjoining counties to Charlotte ? What 
river flows through Charlotte county ? 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
JOHN TYLER. 

1790-1862. 

Virginia has given five Presidents to the Union: 
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and Tyler. 
All the Virginia Presidents served eight years, except 
Tyler, who served 
not quite four. 
Each Virginia 
President did a 
great work for the 
United States. 
Washington 
gained for the 
country its inde- 
pendence, Jefferson purchased Louisiana, Madison main- 
tained the national honor by the second war with 
England, Monroe acquired Florida; and Tyler negotiated 
the treaty for the annexation of Texas. Thus, in the his- 
tory of the American nation Virginians were the leaders 
both in the gaining of independence and in the acquir- 
ing of territory. 




GREENWAY, TYLER'S BIRTHPLACE. 



286 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

John Tyler was born at Greenway, his father's home, 
in Charles City county, Virginia, in 1790. His father 
was John Tyler, Sr., who has a claim upon Virginia for 
three important acts. In 1786, as a member of the 
legislature, he carried through that body the resolu- 
tion which called the Annapolis Convention, the fore- 
runner of the Federal Convention of 1787. In 1788, 
as judge of the general court of Virginia, he held that 
the judges could set aside an act of the legislature if it 
was not in accord with the State Constitution. As 
governor of Virginia, in 1808, he secured the establish- 
ment of the literary fund for the purposes of education. 

As a boy, John Tyler, Jr., displayed great aptness 
for learning. He was sent to an old field school con- 
ducted by a Mr. McMurdo, who was a hard-hearted dis- 
ciplinarian, of whom Tyler said it was a wonder he did 
not whip all the sense out of his scholars. Finally, a 
number of boys, among them young Tyler, determined 
to put an end to Mr. McMurdo's cruel treatment; so 
one day they tripped him up, tied his hands and feet 
and locked him in the schoolhouse, where he remained 
a prisoner until late in the evening, when a passer-by, 
hearing his groans, came in and released him. 

At twelve years of age, Tyler entered the grammar 
school, now the model school of William and Mary 
College, and proceeded from this into the college proper, 



JOHN TYLER. 287 

where he distinguished himself by graduating at the 
age of seventeen. He at once devoted himself to the 
study of law, and at the age of nineteen was admitted 
to the bar. As an advocate he was usually successful 
on account of his keen Wit, brilliant imagination and the 
ability to detect the weak points in his opponent's case. 

When just twenty-one years of age he became a 
member of the legislature, and it is interesting to note 
that at that time he introduced some resolutions to 
censure the Virginia Senators in Congress, because they 
had voted that Congress should recharter the Bank of 
the United States. For five years he was a member of 
the legislature, and at twenty-six he became a member 
of Congress, in which body he remained for six years. 
He was a strong states' rights man, and as such did not 
believe that Congress had the right to legislate slavery 
out of the territories. When the Missouri Compro- 
mise bill of 1820 was passed, allowing Missouri to come 
in as a slave state, but forbidding slavery in any terri- 
tory north of the southern boundary of Missouri 
(36° 300 J Tyler and John Randolph of Roanoke voted 
against the measure. 

On account of poor health, Tyler retired from Con- 
gress in 1821, but four years later he was elected as 
governor. This position he resigned in order that he 
might enter the United States Senate, having been 



288 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

elected over John Randolph of Roanoke, who then oc- 
cupied the seat. He served one term and was re- 
elected for a second time. 

While in the Senate* Tyler's position in politics 
was what we might regard, in these modem days, as 
peculiar, but from the standpoint of the old Vir- 
ginians his position was clearly understood. When 
our ancestors threw off the British yoke they did not 
organize themselves into parties, such as we have to-day. 
It was not a question of what party one belonged to, 
but what principle one advocated and what men one 
had faith in. Tyler held to principles and to men, not 
to parties. He was a follower of Mr. Jefferson, a states' 
rights man, and an opponent of the national bank and 
high tariff. 

When Monroe retired from the Presidency of the 
United States, there was said to be but one party 
(Democratic-Republican), but there were four factions; 
one led by William H. Crawford of Georgia, one by John 
Quincy Adams of Massachusetts, another by Andrew^ 
Jackson of Tennessee, and a fourth by Henry Clay of 
Kentucky. 

Crawford was an elegant gentleman, and his views 
were in accord with those of Tyler. Therefore, Tyler 

*At this time he also served in the Virginia Constitutional 
Convention of 1829-1830. 



JOHN TYLEE. 289 

had favored the election of Crawford to the Presidency, 
but when that old gentleman had a stroke of paralysis, 
Tyler was in the embarrassing position of having to 
choose one of the three other men. He selected 
Adams as the least antagonistic to his principles, be- 
cause he feared that both Henry Clay and Andrew 
Jackson would wish to use the money of the United 
States to build canals and public highways, and this, 
as a states' rights man, Tyler did not believe Con- 
gress had the right to do. Adams, however, proved to 
be in favor of high tariff and internal improvements, so 
that at the next election Tyler supported Andrew Jack- 
son. Because Jackson vetoed a bill on internal im- 
provements, Tyler was friendly to him; but when 
Jackson proposed to coerce the independent state of 
South Carolina, because it set aside the high tariff law 
of the United States, Tyler withdrew his support from 
the President. When the ''Force Bill/' giving the 
President authority to use the forces of the United 
States against South Carolina, was introduced, Tyler 
was the only Senator who stayed in his seat and voted 
against the measure. 
Later, when Jackson removed from the national bank 
j by his own authority the money of the United States, 
Tyler was still more incensed, because he did not be- 
lieve that Jackson had the right to do so. Tyler was op- 
19 



L 



290 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

posed to a national bank, but he regarded Jackson's 
action as high-handed and imperious. Therefore, when 
Clay's resolution to censure Jackson came up in the 
Senate, Tyler voted in its favor. In 1836 the general 
assembly of Virginia passed a resolution instructing her 
United States senators to vote to erase the resolution of 
censure which had been passed against Jackson. Tyler 
refused to vote for the erasure and resigned his seat in 
the Senate, though his colleague, Benjamin Watkins 
Leigh, disregarded the Virginia instructions and re- 
mained in the Senate. 

In 1839 a Whig convention was held at Harrisburg, 
Pa., and General William Henry Harrison was nomi- 
nated for the President and Tyler for Vice-President. 
The convention contained many discordant elements. 
Some of the members were for the bank and some against 
the bank; many were in favor of internal improvements, 
and some against them. Tyler was known to be a 
states' rights man, opposed to a bank being chartered 
by the United States, and opposed to internal improve- 
ments, but he was nominated in order to win the sup- 
port of the Southern states. The convention did not 
adopt a platform explaining what principles the party 
believed in. The campaign was lively, and all 
through the country was heard the cry: '' Tippecanoe 
and Tyler too." The Whigs were regarded as the party 



JOHN TYLER. 



291 



of the people, and to indicate their simpHcity a log 
cabin with coon skins tied by the door and a barrel of 
hard cider in the doorway, placed upon a wagon drawn 
by four oxen, was seen in many sections of Virginia. 
The Whigs won a 
complete victory. 

President Harrison 
lived but a month 
after his inaugura- 
tion and was suc- 
ceeded by Vice-Presi- 
dent Tyler. Clay 
introduced a bill to 
re-charter the na- 
tional bank, which 
passed Congress, but 
was vetoed by the 
President. At once 
the cry was raised 
that Tyler had betrayed his party, but it is to be re- 
membered that Tyler's principles were well known, and 
that the Whig party had no fixed views and principles, 
and in the campaign had demanded no pledge of its 
candidates. Tyler had followed his convictions, as 
every true man is expected to do. 

During his Presidency, Tyler negotiated, through his 




JOHN TYLER. 



292 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Secretary of State, an important treaty with England 
and another one with China, but the crowning event of 
his administration was the treaty by which Texas was 
annexed to the United States. Tyler believed that, if it 
became a part of the United States, our country would 
be greatly increased in strength, and, just three days 
before his administration ended, the treaty was ratified 
whereby Texas was to be admitted as a state in the 
Union. 

In 1845 Tyler retired to his home, '^ Sherwood,'' in 
Charles City county.* For fifteen years he took no 
active part in public life, but when Lincoln was elected 
President and South Carolina seceded, the people of 
Virginia turned to Tyler as her most experienced man 
in public affairs. 

In 1861 the Virginia legislature called for a peace 
conference to meet in Washington, and Tyler was ap- 
pointed as commissioner from Virginia to use every effort 

*The story is told that some Whigs in Charles City county, in 
order to mortify Tyler, caused him to be appointed as road surveyor, 
though it was said that the real reason of his appointment was that 
he was the only man living on the road. He accepted the position, 
and proved to be the best overseer in Charles City county. He kept 
the men constantly at work on the road. When the wheat was ripe 
in June, they wanted to return home and cut the grain, but the ex- 
President insisted that the roads should be worked. The justice of 
the peace begged him to resign and let the men go home, but Tyler 
replied that offices were hard to obtain in those times, and having no 
assurance that he would ever get another, he could not think under 
the circumstances of resigning. 



JOHN TYLER. 



293 



to prevent the war. The conference met in Washington 
on the -fourth day of February. Twenty-one states were 
represented, and Tyler was elected as president of the 
meeting. Nothing was accomplished, as the Northern 
people were unwilling to listen to a compromise. 

In the meantime, Virginia had called for a state con- 
vention to consider what should be the policy of Vir- 
ginia toward the 
Union. To this 
convention 
Tyler was elected 
by the people of 
Charles City and 
New Kent coun- 
ties. The conven- 
tion consisted of 
one hundred and 
fifty-two members, and John Janney of Loudon county, 
was chosen president. Since the peace conference had 
failed, Tyler felt that Virginia should secede, and should 
throw in .her lot with the Southern states, but the con- 
vention was not yet prepared for such a movement; 
it was not until Lincoln called upon Virginia to furnish 
troops to fight against the Southern states that Virginia 
seceded from the Union by a vote of eighty-eight to 
fifty-five. 




SHERWOOD FOREST. 



294 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Tyler was made a deputy to the Confederate Provi- 
sional Congress, and in the fall of 1861 he was elected 
to the permanent Congress of the Confederate States, 
but before taking his seat he died, at the Exchange Hotel 
in Richmond, on the eighteenth of January, 1862. 

He was buried in Hollywood cemetery not far from 
the spot where President Monroe lies. The legislature 
of Virginia and the Confederate Congress adopted reso- 
lutions of respect, in which they bemoaned the fact that 
the Confederate States would be deprived of his wisdom 
and experience. The legislature of Virginia voted a 
monument to his memory, and the members of the Con- 
federate Congress wore the usual badge of mourning 
for thirty days. 

Review Questions. 

Who were the five Virg-inia Presidents ? What do you 
remember them by ? Tell of the early life and education of 
Tyler. Tell of Tyler as a member of the Virginia legislature. 
To what positions did the legislature elect him ? Give an ac- 
count of his record as Senator. Explain how Tyler joined the 
Whigs. Tell of the Whig Presidential campaign of 1840. 
Why did Tyler veto the Bank Bill ? How did the United 
States get Texas ? What was the Peace Conference ? What 
was Tyler's attitude to secession ? What was the last position 
to which he was elected ? Tell how the state legislature and 
the Confederate Congress honored his memory. 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Locate Charles City county and Rich- 
mond. Map of Pennsylvania. — Find Harrisburg. 



CHAPTER XXV. 
HENRY A. WISE. 

1806-1876. 

A PROMINENT figure in Virginia history for nearly fifty 
years was Henry Alexander Wise, who was born at 
Drummondtown, Accomac 
county, Virginia, December 
3, 1806. His father was 
Major John Wise, who had 
been speaker of the House 
of Delegates of Virginia. 
Major Wise died when his 
son was only six years old, 
and shortly afterwards Hen- 
ry's mother also died. Wise 
was brought up in the home 
of his grandfather. General 

Cropper. He was a peculiar boy and unattractive in 
appearance. 

When eight years old he was taught by his aunt, Miss 
Elizabeth Wise, who lived about six miles from Drum- 
mondtown. ^'She curbed the wild and wayward boy 




HENRY A. WISE. 



296 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

and first taught him to read." At the age of twelve, 
he was sent to Margaret Academy, then near Pungo- 
teaque. This was the first high graded school founded 
on the Eastern Shore. It was established soon after the^ 
Revolutionary War and has been in existence for nearly a 
century. Here Wise learned Latin and Greek. At six- 
teen years of age he was sent to Washington College, 
which is now Washington and Lee University, at Lex- 
ington, Virginia. At this institution he distinguished 
himself, being three times orator of his literary society. 
After graduating from Washington College he studied 
law under Judge Henry St. George Tucker, who con- 
ducted a private school in Winchester. 

For a while Wise practiced law in Tennessee, but he 
soon returned to Virginia and followed his profession 
in Accomac county. In 1833 he was a candidate for 
Congress in opposition to Richard Coke of Williamsburg. 
Wise and Coke made a canvass throughout the district, 
holding joint debates in every county. Wise made 
twenty-seven stump speeches, besides having one hun- 
dred and fifty " cross-road skirmishes," and since he had 
a good reputation as an orator, the voters flocked to 
see and to hear him. Wise took a high stand in the 
campaign and just as Madison, fifty years before, had 
refused to treat in the elections, so Wise now refused 
either to treat or to drink. 



4 



HENRY A. WISE. 297 

At this time he was a tall young man about six feet 
high, ''thin as a rail, of fair complexion with light auburn 
hair, almost flaxen, worn long behind the ears, and deep- 
set piercing hazel eyes. His forehead was broad . . . 
and he had a large, firmly set mouth above a square 
chin. . . . His general appearance was youthful, 
and his pronounced features and clean shaven face 
added to the young look about him,'' 

After a vigorous campaign, Wise was elected by a 
majority of four hundred and one votes. He remained 
in Congress eleven years, during which time a movement 
to abolish slavery was started in the North. Ex-Presi- 
dent John Quincy Adams, a member of the House of Rep- 
resentatives, was constantly presenting petitions from 
the anti-slavery societies. Wise often crossed swords 
with him, and it is said that in some ways he and Adams 
were alike, as both of them were impulsive and ready 
at any time to begin an argument. 

Wise was a Democrat, but he was opposed to 
Van Buren, partly because the latter refused to enter 
into negotiations to admit Texas into the Union; and 
together with John Tyler and some other Democrats, 
Wise joined the party that elected Harrison President 
and Tyler Vice-President. Wise was always a warm 
friend of John Tyler and defended his policy as 
President of the United States. Tyler appointed Wise 



298 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

Minister to France, but the Senate declined to confirm 
the nomination. In 1844, however, Wise was sent as 
Minister to Brazil, where he remained for three years. 

On returning to Virginia he began the practice of 
law in Accomac county. Many stories are told of how 
he conducted himself among the people of this locality. 
On one occasion he was at the sale of the property of a 




WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY. 

deceased man. Among the things to be sold was a large 
egg-nog bowl in which was some sugar belonging to the 
widow. While she was looking for a bucket in which 
to pour the sugar, the auctioneer had sold the bowl 
with the sugar in it. When the poor widow came in with 
the bucket to get her sugar, the man who had bought 
the bowl said that the sugar was his and refused to give 
it up. The crowd at once hissed him and he appealed 



HENEY A. WISE. 299 

to Wise to decide the case. Wise at first declined to 
give a decision, but the man said, ''I want your 
advice, and whatever you advise, I will do," whereupon 
Wise said, 'The sugar is yours. The widow cannot 
take it from you." The man then cried out to the 
crowd, ''What did I tell you?" But great was his sur- 
prise when Wise said, ''Stop! you asked my advice. 
My charges are five dollars," and he walked, up to the 
man and held out his hand, saying, " Give me the money." 
The man was so confused that he handed the money 
to Wise, who, walking over to the widow, said, ' ' Madam, 
this money is honestly mine. I have a perfect right to 
dispose of it as I please. Take it, and with it buy 
more sugar for yourself and your fatherless chil- 
dren." 

Wise was elected a member of the constitutional con- 
vention of 1850-1851, which body is known in history 
as the "Reform Convention." Since 1800 hard feelings 
had existed between the eastern and the western sections 
of the state, because the people of the western part did 
not feel that they had proper representation in the 
legislature, and, moreover, they thought that every 
white man over twenty-one years of age should be 
allowed to vote. The eastern people thought that 
in proportion to its wealth the western section was 
properly represented in the legislature and they did 



300 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

not believe that a man ought to vote who did not have 
some property. 

The constitutional convention of 1829-1830,* of 
which you have learned in connection with Madison, 
Monroe, Marshall, Randolph and Tyler, though it 
made some concessions to the western people, did not 
satisfy their demands, so they continued to ask for 
reforms in the government, and finally a convention 
was called in 1850. Wise was about the only eastern 

* In 1782 the east had only three times as many people as the 
west, and yet four times as many representatives in the legislature. 
By the time that the convention of 1829-1830 was called, the popu- 
lations of the two sections were nearly equal, but the east paid three 
times as much taxes as the west, and the representation of the east 
was double that of the west. The eastern members would not give 
the western members in this convention representation based on 
white population, because there were eight times as many slaves in 
eastern Virginia as in western Virginia, and many of the western 
people were known to be opposed to slavery. In 1831 occurred a 
negro insurrection in Southampton county, headed by Nat Turner, 
in which about fifty-five white people were killed. The following 
year a bill was proposed in the legislature to emancipate the slaves, 
and it lacked only a few votes of passing. As a rule, the eastern mem- 
bers voted against emancipation, and the western people for it. 
Another reason why the eastern people feared the west was because 
of internal improvements. The western people wanted fine roads 
built at the expense of the state. Such roads would have brought 
the trade of the western part of Virginia to Richmond and Norfolk 
instead of allowing it to go to Baltimore and Washington. Some 
roads were built. This difference in views between the east and west 
was so great that when the Civil War came on, it resulted in the 
counties west of the Alleghanies not accepting secession, and deliber- 
ately tearing themselves from the state of Virginia to organize a new 
state. 



HENEY A. WISE. 801 

member of the Convention who beheved that the 
wishes of the western people should be respected. 
When the question of giving the west more representa- 
tives in the legislature came up, Wise spoke for five 
days advocating their claims, and it is said that though 
the great Shakespearian actor. Booth, was playing Ham- 
let at the theater, Wise's dramatic speech drew a larger 
audience. Principally through his influence, the con- 
vention finally decided to make some concessions to 
the western people.* 

In 1856 Wise was named as the candidate of the 
Democratic party for governor. He had to fight the 
'^ Know-nothing'' party,t which had been formed as a 
secret organization. This party was thought to be 
strong, as it had won in several Northern states. Wise 
took the stump, and from the Atlantic shore to the 
borders of the Ohio River the people were stirred by his 
eloquence and the '^ Know-nothing" party went down 
in defeat under his terrible sarcasm. He often began his 
speech with a text from the book of Job, ^^For we are 
but of yesterday and know nothing.'^ On the election 
day Wise won by ten thousand majority. 

* The convention of 1850-1851 was truly a reform convention. 
Every man over twenty-one years of age was allowed to vote and the 
governor was to be elected thereafter by the people and not by the 
legislature as under the old system. 

f The party received the name Know-nothing because when a mem- 
ber was questioned about it, he usually answered, "I know-nothing." 



302 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



When \v^ise was governor, a Northern fanatic, John 
Brown, came to Harper's Ferry, seized the arsenal there 
and urged the negroes to rise in insurrection and kill 
their masters. Colonel Robert E. Lee was sent from 
Washington with United States troops; he seized Brown 
and several of his associates and turned them over to the 




A VIEW OF harper's FERRY. 



state of Virginia. They were tried, convicted and con- 
demned to be hanged. Wise received more than two 
thousand letters from the North, some of them filled 
with threats against him if he allowed the sentence 
against Brown to go into operation, but this did not 
move him, and Brown was hanged according to the 
decision of the court. Then it was that Wendell 
Phillips preached a sermon in Boston in which he com- 



HENRY A. WISE. 303 

pared John Brown to Jesus Christ, and Henry A. Wise 
to Pontius Pilate. 

When the Southern states seceded from the Union, Wise 
urged that Virginia should stay in the Union and fight 
for her rights, and that all the Southern states should do 
likewise, as none of them had violated the Constitution. 
But in a short while war was at hand, and the Virginia 
convention had to decide on which side the state should 
fight. Wise, who was a member of the convention, 
urged secession as the only course left. Virginia hav- 
ing joined the Confederacy, Wise entered the army 
and was made a brigadier-general. He served through- 
out the war with distinction and was with Lee when 
he surrended at Appomattox. 

At the close of the war. Wise had no home, for his 
place in Princess Anne county, where he had gone to live 
before the war, had been seized by Federal troops, and 
all of his pictures, books and personal property had been 
stolen and scattered to all parts of the country. Several 
years after the Federal government returned to him his 
estate, but it was in ruins. Wise never again became a 
citizen of the United States, as he would not take the 
oath of allegiance; therefore he could not vote or hold 
office. He began the practice of law in Richmond, where 
he lived until his death, September 12, 1876. 

He never lost interest in his native state, which he 



804 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

dearly loved. Among the first of his utterances after the 
war was advice to the young Virginians to go to work; to 
bring people from the North to settle upon those lands 
which were uncultivated; to develop commerce, mining 
and manufacturing; to be high-minded and generous as 
their fathers had been, but to throw aside idle and profit- 
less pleasures. Many years have passed since he died, 
and during that time much of his advice has been fol- 
lowed. New settlers have come into our state, and our 
agricultural condition has improved. Our cities are 
growing through commercial activity, great quantities 
of coal and iron are being mined in our mountains, and 
our people are still high-minded and generous as were 
our fathers. 

Review Questions. 

Tell of Wise's early life. How did he succeed at college ? 
Where did he practice law ? Tell of his first election to Con- 
gress. What sort of looking man was he ? Tell of Wise's 
connection with Tyler. Tell the story of the poor woman's 
sugar. Give an account of Wise in the convention of 1850- 
1851. Why was there hard feeling between eastern and 
western Virginia ? Tell of Wise's campaign against Know- 
nothingism. Tell of the hanging of John Brown. What did 
Wise say about secession ? Tell of his advice to young Vir- 
ginians. 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Winchester, Lexington, Accomac 
county and Princess Anne county. Map of Tennessee. — 
Locate Nashville. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

MATTHEW F. MAURY. 

1806-1873. 

Virginia has been the home of many eminent states- 
men, but it should not be forgotten that she has Hke- 
wise furnished to the world inventors and scientists. 
In Cyrus H. McCormick, Virginia gave an inventor 
who revolutionized farming. When McCormick made, 
in 1831, in his father's blacksmith shop in Rockbridge 
county, the first reaper that ever cut a field of wheat, 
he rendered to civilization a service greater than can 
be truly estimated. From McCormick's reaper have 
been developed the self-binders, mowers and corn-har- 
vesters of the modern age, machines which are said to 
save in labor for the people of the United States, an- 
nually, the sum of a million dollars. McCormick's 
invention has been the greatest blessing that ever befell 
an agricultural people. 

The American people are; however, a great commer- 
cial, as well as an agricultural nation, and commerce 
can not be carried on successfully without a thorough 
knowledge of the sea and its navigation. In order that 
20 



306 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

the best commercial relations may exist between the 
various countries of the v^orld there should be rapid 
communication; so to-day we have cables crossing the 
ocean, whereby in a few minutes we can communicate 
with all the civilized parts of the world. From Virginia 
came the famous man, who, by his study of ocean cur- 
rents greatly aided successful navigation, and by his 
deep-sea soundings pointed out the practicability of lay- 
ing cables at the bottom of the ocean. This man is 
Matthew F. Maury, known as the ''Pathfinder" of 
the sea. 

Maury was born in Spotsylvania county, Virginia, 
about ten miles west of Fredericksburg, on the 24th of 
January, 1806. When Matthew was but five years old, 
his father moved to Franklin, Tennessee, about eighteen 
miles from Nashville. As soon as he was old enough, 
young Maury assisted his father in clearing the farm, 
and while not so engaged, he went to an ''old-field" 
school, where he received some elementary instruction. 
At the age of twelve young Matthew fell from a tree; 
the fall slightly injured his spine and caused him almost 
to bite off his tongue. After he recovered from this 
fall, his father, fearing that the boy was not strong 
enough for farm work, decided to give him an education, 
and young Maury was sent to Harpeth Academy, where 
he did well, particularly in mathematics. 



MATTHEW F. MAURY. 



307 



When eighteen he was appointed, through the Hon. 
Sam Houston, then a member of Congress from Ten- 
nessee, a midshipman in the navy. Matthew's father 
did not wish him to enter the navy, because an elder 
brother, John Maury, had been lost at sea; and, there- 
fore, he refused to give Matthew any money with which 
to go to Washington City, where he was to report at the 
Navy Department. Matthew, however, was determined 
to go, so he borrowed thirty dollars from Mr. Hasbrouck, 
an instructor at the Harpeth Academy; but this 
sum of money was not sufficient to take him to Wash- 
ington. There were neither railroads nor stage-coach 

lines in those days leading 
from Tennessee to Washing- 
ton, so the trip had to be 
made by private conveyance 
or on horseback, and it took 
more than two weeks. Fi- 
nally, he found a neighbor 
who was anxious to sell a 
horse, and knowing that 
horses were worth more in 
eastern Virginia than in the 
mountains of Tennessee, this man loaned young Maury 
a fine colt which he was to sell on reaching the end 
of his journey. 




MATTHEW F. MAURY. 



808 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

After a long ride, Maury reached Albemarle county, 
where some of his kinspeople lived. They received him 
with joy, and had an unusually good supper on the 
night of his arrival. Ice cream was served, and as he 
was the guest of honor, the servant waited upon him 
first. Maury had never seen any ice cream in his life, 
so when a dish of it was placed in front of his plate he 
helped himself to a spoonful of it, thinking that it was 
preserves, and passed his saucer on. This little story 
indicates how simple the life was among the pioneers in 
western Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. 

On entering the service of the United States, Maury 
was assigned to duty on the Frigate Brandywine, and 
was aboard that vessel when it brought the Marquis 
de Lafayette to the United States as the guest of the 
nation. The story is told that in those days upon 
the ship Maury spent his spare time in the study of 
mathematics, and that often Lafayette would give an 
encouraging word to the young midshipman. After 
making a cruise of the world he returned to America, 
took the examinations of the Navy Department, and 
was promoted in a short time to be lieutenant in the navy. 
He early began to write on subjects connected with the 
sea, and in 1835 published his first book on navigation. 

About this time he was married to Miss Herndon of 
Fredericksburg. He was so poor that the fee to the 



1 



MATTHEW F. MAURY. 309 

minister who married him was the last ten dollars that 
he had in the world. For a while he was appointed to 
examine Southern harbors, in which work he was en- 
gaged for more than a year. He then visited his aged 
parents in Tennessee, and on his way back to New York 
was thrown from the top of a stage coach, having given 
up his seat inside to a poor woman who could not stand 
the cold air on the outside. Maury's leg was broken at 
the knee, and as it was set by a poor surgeon, it was 
afterward found necessary to break his limb a second 
time, which was a very painful operation, because in 
those days the use of chloroform and opium in surgical 
operations was not known. Maury was somewhat lame 
the rest of his life on account of this accident. 

His book on navigation, his report on the Southern 
harbors and his numerous articles on the improvement 
of the navy gave him the reputation of the best-informed 
man in the navy service, and he was spoken of for the 
Secretaryship of the Navy. This position, however, was 
not offered him, but in 1841 he was put in charge of the 
bureau of charts and instruments in Washington, and 
by his energy and hard work he developed this into the 
National Observatory. 

While in this position he discovered the cause of the 
Gulf Stream, and drew maps explaining the currents and 
winds of the seas, and prepared sailing directions to in- 



310 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

dicate the best routes for ships in crossing the ocean. 
He Hkewise wrote the first physical geography of the 
sea. At the same time he studied the causes of the 
changes of the weather and laid the basis of our modern 
weather bureau. His navigation charts aroused the 
interest and attention of the whole world, and in 1853 
an international conference was held in Brussels to en- 
courage Maury's investigations. At this conference 
Maury was the ruling spirit, and his reputation as a 
scientist was so generally recognized that knighthood 
was conferred upon him by the Czar of Russia, the King 
of Denmark, the King of Portugal and the King of Bel- 
gium, and gold medals were presented to him by Prus- 
sia, Austria, Sweden and Holland. 

While he was making a chart of the currents of the 
seas Maury caused soundings to be taken in various 
parts of the ocean in order that its depth might be dis- 
covered. In doing this, he found that there is a great 
sub-marine plateau across the Atlantic Ocean, on which 
a cable could be laid without being disturbed by the 
ocean currents. Cyrus W. Field took up Maury's sug- 
gestion, and in 1857 laid the first trans-Atlantic cable. 
But Field always acknowledged his debt to Maury, for 
at a public banquet he said: ''Maury furnished the 
brains, England the money, and I had the work done." 

In his efforts to increase the commerce of the South 






MATTHEW F. MAURY. 



311 



and the Southwest Maury wrote many papers on navi- 
gation * and urged the building of a ship canal across 
the Isthmus of Panama, which he claimed was superior 
to the Nicaraguan route. Because of the many things 
which he did for commerce, 
the merchants of New York 
City presented him with a 
purse of five thousand dol- 
lars and a service of silver 
plate. 

In 1861, when Virginia 
seceded, Maury resigned 
his position in Washington 
and went to Richmond. 
Maury, like Lee, had 
served the United States 
for over thirty years, and 
he hated to leave its ser- 
vice, but when his native 
state called he felt that he 
must obey. It is reported, 
however, that when he went to write his resignation he 
was so overcome with grief, that he said with a choking 
voice, "I can not write it.'' 




THE GRAVE OF MAURY, 



* Maury also wrote a book on the stars and a set of geographies for 
-school purposes. 



312 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

He was appointed a commodore in the Confederate 
Navy and became chief of the seacoast, harbor and 
river defences of the South. In this position he assisted 
in fitting out the Virginia as an iron-clad — the first 
that the world ever saw — and he also invented a formid- 
able torpedo to be placed in harbors to blow up hostile 
ships. Toward the close of the war he was sent to 
England, and was there when Lee surrendered. 

On leaving England Maury went to Mexico and en- 
tered the service of Maximilian, the emperor, by whom 
he was again sent to England. Before he could return 
Maximilian had been overthrown and the empire of 
Mexico became a republic. At this time a bank in 
which Maury had placed his money failed and he had 
nothing to live upon. But English gentlemen, inter- 
ested in science, at once raised and presented to him a 
purse of about fifteen thousand dollars. In 1867 he 
received, as did also the great poet Tennyson, the de- 
gree of Doctor of Laws from Cambridge University, 
England. 

In 1868 he became professor at the Virginia Military 
Institute at Lexington and there he died February 1, 
1873. He lies buried in Hollywood cemetery at Rich- 
mond. 

Maury inaugurated many measures which were bene- 
ficial to humanity. In everything that he did he was 



MATTHEW F. MAURY. 313 

wholly patriotic and disinterested. In public and pri- 
vate life he was pure, upright and faithful. It is to be 
hoped that Virginia will erect a monument to his mem- 
ory, for so great a benefactor should not go unrecog- 
nized by his native state. 

Review Questions. 

What did Cyrus McCormick do for the world ? What did 
Maury do ? Tell of Maury's early life. On what subject did 
he write? What positions did he hold under the United 
States ? Tell of the honors which he received. What was 
his connection with the Confederacy ? What position did he 
hold at the time of his death ? How should Virginia honor 
Maury ? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Lexington, Fredericksburg and 
Richmond. Locate Spotsylvania, Rockbridge and Albemarle 
counties. Map of Europe. — Find England, Holland, Bel- 
gium, Russia, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
THOMAS J. JACKSON. * 

1824-1863. 

Among the Scott?h-Irish who came to Virginia and 
settled in the Alleghany Mountains about 1750 were 
John Jackson and his wife Elizabeth Cummins. From 

this pair was descended a goodly 
family by the name of Jackson 
who lived in Harrison and Lewis 
counties in western Virginia. A 
great-grandson was Thomas Jon- 
athan Jackson, who was born at 
Clarksburg, Harrison county, Vir- 
ginia, in January, 1824. His 
father was Jonathan Jackson, a 
lawyer, and his mother was Julia 
Neale. When Jackson was only three years old his 
father died, leaving Mrs. Jackson and her three children, 
Warren, Thomas and Laura, with no means of support. 
For a while she taught school and took in sewing, and, 
afterward, against the wishes of her friends, she married 




STONEWALL JACKSON. 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 315 

a second time. But her husband, Captain Woodson, 
was too poor to support her children, and so, at the age 
of six, young Thomas went to hve with his aunt, Mrs. 
Brake, with whom his brother Warren was already 
living. Shortly after this the boys' mother died. 

Thomas could not get along with his uncle Brake, so 
he left him and finally went to live with a bachelor 
uncle named Cummins Jackson, about eighteen miles 
from Clarksburg. Here his little sister also came to live, 
as well as his brother Warren. Cummins Jackson sent 
the children to school, where Thomas was studious and 
persevering, though he never succeeded in any of his 
studies except arithmetic. Warren was a restless boy 
and decided to run away from his uncle and persuaded 
Thomas to go with him. The children, though but four- 
teen and twelve years of age, wandered across the coun- 
try to the Ohio River and, having built a raft, they went 
down the river until they landed on a small island in the 
Mississippi. There they made a living by cutting wood 
for the passing steamboats. The island was full of 
malaria, and they had chills and fevers, from which they 
came near dying. After this experience, young Thomas 
returned to the home of his uncle, Cummins Jackson, 
and Warren went back to the home of Mrs. Brake, where 
he soon after died from consumption. 

On the farm of Mr. Cummins Jackson Thomas now 



316 MAKEES OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

proved very helpful. It is said that whenever he under- 
took anything he would carry it through in spite of all 
opposition; but though he had a determined will he had 
a cheerful, generous nature and a strong sense of justice, 
and was absolutely truthful. He had the greatest re- 
spect for womankind, even when a boy. On one occa- 
sion at school, a boy much larger than Jackson acted very 
rudely to one of the girls. Jackson demanded that he 
should apologize to ^the girl, and when the big fellow 
refused, ''Jackson pitched into him and gave him a 
severe pounding." 

When he was eighteen Jackson made application for 
a cadetship at the Military Academy at West Point 
(N. Y.). On receiving assurances of help from his 
Congressman he went immediately to Washington, and, 
though his educational preparation was not the best, 
the Secretary of War was so pleased with him that he 
gave him the appointment. At West Point Jackson 
proved to be a good student, and, though he scarcely 
made his classes the first year, he persevered so diligently 
that at the end of the fourth year he graduated seven- 
teenth in a class of seventy. One of his classmates said 
that if there had been one more year to the course ''old 
Jack" would have come out at the head of the class. 
While at West Point he wrote in his notebook a set of 
resolutions to govern his life, and at the head of them 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 



317 



he put this maxim, ''You may be whatever you resolve 
to be.'^ One of his resolutions was, ''Through life let 
your principal object be the discharge of duty.'' 

On graduating Jackson went to the Mexican War as 
a lieutenant in the artillery service, and conducted him- 




THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE. 

self with such bravery that in the official reports his 
officers spoke of him in the highest terms. For his 
gallantry he was made first a captain and then a major. 
•'No officer in the whole army in Mexico was promoted 
so often for meritorious conduct, or made so great a 
stride in rank.'' 

On returning from Mexico he was baptized by an 
Episcopal clergyman, but it was not until 1851 that he 
connected himself with any church. After deliberation 
he accepted the Presbyterian faith, and was always a 



318 MAKERS OF VIEGINIA HISTORY. 

faithful church member. He lived a conscientious life 
and was a great advocate of the observance of the 
Sabbath. He felt that something should be done for the 
religious condition of the negroes, so he established a 
Sunday-school for them at Lexington. In 1851 he was 
elected professor of natural philosophy and artillery 
tactics at the Virginia Military Institute at Lexington. 
As a professor he was extremely conscientious, though 
he was not so popular with his students as some of the 
other professors, because he was strict in his discipline 
and exacting in his demands of the students ; yet all the 
students had the highest respect for him. 

As soon as Virginia seceded from the Union Jackson 
decided to enter the army. By Governor Letcher he 
was commissioned colonel of the Virginia volunteers and 
was stationed at Harper's Ferry under General Joseph 
E. Johnston. A few weeks later he was made brigadier- 
general, and some months afterwards major-general. 

When the Federals invaded Virginia in 1861 Jackson's 
troops were among those sent by General Johnston to 
reinforce Beauregard at Manassas. In that terrible 
battle Jackson's brigade saved the day by standing firm 
when the Confederate troops commanded by General 
Bee of South Carolina were being driven back. On 
seeing Jackson, General Bee cried: '^Look at Jackson. 
There he stands like a stone wall! Rally behind the 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 319 

Virginians." The South Carohnans bravely re-formed 
their lines and the day was won. Ever since, '^Stone- 
wall " Jackson has been a household name in the South. 

During the winter of 1861-1862 Jackson stayed at 
Winchester in charge of the Army of the Valley of 
Virginia. With the opening of 1862 came Jackson's 
famous Valley campaign. The weather was cold and the 
roads were frozen, but Jackson moved his soldiers with 
such rapidity that they got the title of foot cavalry. He 
attacked the Federals at Romney, drove them from the 
entire region of the Valley, and returned to Winchester 
with his army in high glee, though many a man had a 
frost-bitten ear, finger or toe. 

Shortly after this the Federal General Banks ap- 
proached within four miles of Winchester and Jackson 
was forced to retreat up the Valley, but suddenly he re- 
traced his steps and on March 23rd fought a fierce battle 
with one diAdsion of Banks's army under Shields at 
Kernstown. 

The authorities at Washington became uneasy and 
sent reinforcements to Banks, while Jackson also re- 
ceived reinforcements under Generals Ewell and Edward 
Johnson, making his army about fifteen thousand. 
Opposed to him were four Federal armies numbering 
sixty thousand men. Hearing that Milroy was coming 
from western Virginia Jackson marched rapidly south, 



320 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

then west, and defeated the Federals at McDowell on 
May 8th ; thereupon he recrossed the mountains, and 
on May 23rd fell upon part of Banks's army at Front 
Royal, completely defeating it. Banks then retreated 
down the Valley, and, as he was pursued by Jackson, 
he crossed the Potomac into Maryland. 

The Federals, believing that Jackson had an army of 
about fifty thousand men, sent reinforcements to Shields, 
who was at Front Royal. In the meantime, Fremont 
came from West Virginia into the Valley, and he and 
Shields were trying to unite and destroy Jackson's small 
force. Jackson marched quickly up the Valley, followed 
by Fremont on one side the Shenandoah River and 
Shields on the other side. Turning around at Cross 
Keys,* he defeated Fremont on June 7th; then quickly 
crossing the Shenandoah Reiver and, burning the bridge, 
he defeated Shields the next day, June 8th, at Port 
Republic. 

This Valley campaign is one of the most remarkable 
in history. '^Within forty days, he [Jackson] had 
marched four hundred miles, fought four pitched battles, 
defeating four separate armies with numerous combats 
and skirmishes, sent to the rear thirty-five hundred 

* In this campaign Brigadier-General Turner Ashby was killed. 
He was one of the most daring cavalry ofl&cers in the Confederate 
service. 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 



821 




SCALE OF MILES 



JACKSON S CAMPAIGN IN THE VALLEY OF VIRGINIA. 



prisoners, killed and wounded a still larger number of the 
enemy/' and had kept sixty thousand Federal troops 
from joining McClellan in his attack on Richmond. 

No sooner had the Valley been cleared of the enemy 
than Jackson took his army to Richmond and assisted 
Lee in driving McClellan from Virginia. When Lee 
moved north, Jackson went with him, and was a con- 
spicuous figure in the second battle of Manassas, where 
21 



322 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

the Federals, under General Pope, were defeated. Jack- 
son now took Harper's Ferry, and, joining Lee in Mary- 
land, commanded the Confederate left in the battle of 
Sharpsburg. After this battle Lee returned into Vir- 
ginia and took up his position at Fredericksburg, where 
the Federal General Burnside was terribly defeated 
(December, 1862). Jackson commanded the right of 
the Confederates in this battle. 

For the winter of 1861-1862 Jackson was stationed 
at Moss Neck in Caroline county. He provided chap- 
lains for his army and had meetings held by many de- 
nominations. A Presbyterian minister in describing 
the services held in the general's camp said, '^ So we had 
a Presbyterian sermon introduced by Baptist services 
under the direction of a Methodist Chaplain in an Epis- 
copal Church.'' 

In the spring Federal General Hooker crossed the 
Rapidan River and took up his position at Chancel- 
lorsville. Here occurred one of the great battles of 
the war, and Hooker was completely routed. 
Jackson was sent to make a flank movement, and on 
May 2, 1863, he was six miles west of Chancellorsville 
in the rear of the enemy. Through dense woods Jack- 
son's men attacked the Federals and swept them from 
their lines. All that was needed to ,put the Union sol- 
diers to flight was a rapid advance of the Confederates, 



THOMAS J. JACKSON. 



323 



Jackson therefore dashed among his troops, saying, 

''Men, get into hne! Get into Hne!" Then he rode 

out with a party in front of his Une for about a hundred 

yards to view the position 

of the enemy. Here he 

was fired upon by the 

Federals, and while he 

was returning rapidly to 

his own lines, his men, 

mistaking him and his 

attendants for a body of 

Federal cavalry, opened 

fire . ' ' His right hand was 

pierced by a bullet, his left 

arm was shattered by two 

balls, one above and one 

below the elbow breaking 

the bones and severing 

the main arteries. ^^ 

With much difficulty 
Jackson was carried to 

the rear, where he was put in an ambulance, and taken 
to the home of Mr. Thomas C. Chandler at Guiney's 
Station. He gradually grew worse, and just before he 
died he was heard to say, ''Let us cross the river and 
rest under the shade of the trees/^ He had often said 




STATUE OF " STO:SEWALL JACKSON 



824 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

that he wanted to die on the Lord's day, and his wish 
was gratified, for he passed away on a beautiful Sunday 
in May, 1863. 

Jackson's death was a great blow to the Confederacy. 
He was often spoken of as Lee's " right arm,'^ and many 
a time did Lee wish for the gallant ''Stonewall'' Jackson 
who had never known a real defeat. Throughout life 
Jackson had made the discharge of duty his foremost 
thought. He never asked for a day's furlough while he 
was in the army. In all things he was faithful — to his 
family, to his country, and to his God. 

Review Questions. 

Tell of Jackson's early life and education. How did he 
succeed at West Point ? What was said of him in the Mexican 
War ? Tell of his church relations. What position did he 
hold at Virginia Military Institute ? How did he get the name 
of ' ' Stonewall " ? Describe his famous Valley campaign. At 
what great battles was he with Lee ? Tell of his death. 

Geography Study. 

Map of West Virginia. — Find Clarksburg, Lewis county, 
Harrison county and Ohio River. Map of Virginia. — Find 
Lexington, Harper's Ferry ^ Winchester, Harrisonburg, Man- 
assas, Fredericksburg and Caroline county. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
ROBERT E. LEE. 

1807-1870. 

When Virginia seceded from the Union, some of her 
bravest sons were members of the Army of the United 
States ; but, true and loyal 
to their mother state, 
they resigned their commis- 
sions and returned home 
to do the bidding of the 
Old Dominion. One of the 
first to answer the call of 
old Virginia was Robert 
Edward Lee. 

He was born at Strat- 
ford, in Westmoreland 
county, Virginia, on the 
nineteenth of January, 
1807. His father. General Henry (' ' Light Horse Harry '') 
Lee of Revolutionary fame, died when Robert was a boy, 
and therefore his training was left to his mother. She 




LIGHT- HORSE HARRY LEE. 



326 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

was a good woman and raised her son to be a devout 
Christian man. When Robert was not at school he 
spent his leisure time with her. On one occasion when 
his mother was sick, he took the keys and kept house. 
He was so constantly her companion, that she once 
said, ^^How can I spare Robert? He is both a son and 
a daughter to me.'' 

At eighteen he received an appointment as a cadet to 
the United States Military Academy at West Point, and 
after four years he was graduated second in a class of 
forty-six and became a second lieutenant in the corps 
of engineers. While at West Point his conduct was ir- 
reproachable, his habits were excellent, and he did not 
receive a demerit in the whole four years. 

In 1831 he married Mary Custis, the daughter of 
George Washington Parke Custis of Arlington. On the 
death of Mr. Custis Mrs. Lee inherited that magnificent 
estate, Arlington, which, during the war, was taken 
from the Lees by the Federal government. 

Lee was rapidly promoted, and by 1835 held the rank 
of captain. When the war with Mexico broke out in 
1846 Lee went with General Scott as engineer. His 
services were so valuable in planning batteries that in 
the report of the siege of Vera Cruz General Scott wrote : 
''I am compelled to make special mention of Captain 
Robert E. Lee, Engineer." When the campaign had 



ROBERT E. LEE. 



327 



closed General Scott was often heard to say that his 
success in Mexico was largely due to the skill, valor, and 
undaunted courage of Robert E. Lee, who was the 
greatest military genius in America and the best soldier 
that he ever saw 
in the field; and 
that if the oppor- 
tunity offered, 
Lee would show 
himself the fore- 
most captain of 
his day. 

General Scott's 
prediction came 
true, but in a 

way very different from his expectations.* Scott had 
hoped that the opportunity would come to Lee as a 
general in the Army of the United States, but Lee was 
destined to distinguish himself as the foremost man of 

* Soon after the Mexican War Lee was made superintendent of 
the United States Military Academy at West Point, which position 
he held for three years, and the academy was greatly improved dur- 
ing his administration. He was then made a lieutenant-colonel in 
the cavalry service, and for a time was stationed at Louisville, Ken- 
tucky, and afterwards in Texas, where he had to fight against the 
Comanche Indians. In 1859 he was at home on a furlough when the 
John Brown raid occurred. The Secretary of War at once sent across 
the Potomac River to Lee's beautiful home, Arlington, and asked him 
to go to Harper's Ferry to capture John Brown. 




THE ARLINGTON HOME. 



328 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

his age in the war against the United States. Lee never 
advocated secession, and, therefore, it was a great blow 
to him when his native state, Virginia, decided to leave 
the Union, but he never hesitated about obeying her call. 

For thirty-two years Lee had served in the Army of 
the United States, and it was a struggle for him to leave 
its services; but he never failed to do what he thought 
was his duty, and, although President Lincoln offered 
to put him in command of the active army of the United 
States, he declined the high compliment and sent in his 
resignation to the War Department of the United States. 
At the same time he wrote a letter to General Winfield 
Scott, then commander-in-chief of the army, in which 
he said, " Save in the defense of my native state, I never 
desire again to draw my sword. '^ But Virginia at once 
called upon her great son, and he was made commander- 
in-chief of the Virginia forces. 

In obedience to the call of his state he went to Rich- 
mond to take command of the Virginia forces. The 
Virginia secession convention was then in session, and 
an invitation was sent to him to appear before it. When 
he entered the hall he was welcomed by Mr. Janney, the 
presiding officer, who closed his speech by saying: 
''Yesterday your mother Virginia placed her sword in 
your hands upon the implied condition that in all things 
you will keep it to the letter and spirit, that you will 



ROBERT E. LEE. 329 

draw it only in defence, and that you will fall with it in 
your hand, rather than the object for which it is placed 
there should fail/^ 

General Lee could hardly reply on account of his 
modesty, but finally he said, ''Mr. President and gen- 
tlemen of the convention, I accept the position assigned 
me by your partiality. I would have much preferred 
that the choice would have fallen upon an abler man. 
Trusting in Almighty God and approving conscience, 
and the aid of my fellow citizens, I devote myself to the 
services of my native state, in whose behalf alone I will 
ever again draw my sword.'' This was Lee's first and 
last speech. 

Not long after this war began in real earnest. In the 
middle of the summer of 1861, the Confederates defeated 
the Federals at Bull Run, near Manassas, Virginia, and 
the invasion of Virginia was checked. At this time Lee 
was in Richmond, where he was detained by President 
Davis. A little later Lee was sent to western A^irginia 
to command the Confederate forces, and in this section 
he was not so successful as his friends had expected. 
The trouble lay not with Lee, but in the fact that he did 
not have forces enough to manage the difficult situation 
in western Virginia. 

In 1862 his opportunity came. Gen. George B. Mc- 
Clellan, with a strong Union army undertook to advance 



330 



MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



from Yorktown against Richmond, but found himseK 
opposed by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. In the battle 
that ensued Johnston was wounded, and General Lee, 
on the first of June, was put in command of the Army 

of Northern Virginia, which 
command he retained until 
the surrender at Appo- 
mattox. 

After seven days' fight- 
ing McClellan was driven 
back. Operations against 
Richmond were given up 
for the time being, and the 
South became jubilant and 
the North despondent. Lee 
marched north and de- 
feated the Federals under 
General Pope at the second 
battle of Manassas, pushed into Maryland, and fought 
the battle of Antietam, or Sharpsburg, and then retired 
into Virginia. In December of the same year (1862) he 
terribly defeated Burnside at Fredericksburg, Va. 

In May, 1863, Lee inflicted even a worse defeat upon 
General Hooker at Chancellorsville, a short distance 
from Fredericksburg. The battle of Chancellorsville 
was a costly one to the Confederates, on account of the 




JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON. 



EGBERT E. LEE. 831 

loss of General ' ' Stonewall ' ' Jackson. Lee then marched 
into the North; crossed Maryland and entered Penn- 
sylvania; but at Gettysburg he was stopped by the 
Federals under General Meade. Here was fought a 
three-days' battle. On the last day the Confederates 
under General Pickett made a heroic charge against the 
Federal center, but were compelled to withdraw. As 
they came back Lee rode out to meet them. He en- 
couraged the men and said to them: ^^ All this has been 
my fault and it is I who have lost the fight. You must 
help me out as best you can." He was brave in victory, 
but braver in defeat. He never tried to place the re- 
sponsibility of the defeat upon another, but took it all 
upon himself. 

In March, 1864, General U. S. Grant, who had dis- 
tinguished himself in some campaigns along the Missis- 
sippi River, was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the 
Army of the Potomac, then stationed in northern Vir- 
ginia, and began to advance toward Richmond. For a 
little over a year, a terrible campaign went on between 
Lee and Grant. It began with the battle of the Wilder- 
ness in Spotsylvania county, Virginia, and ended with 
the surrender of Lee at Appomattox Courthouse. Lee 
did all that any man could do to prevent defeat, but 
Grant's army greatly outnumbered his. Grant often 
had five times as many soldiers as Lee, and he, therefore, 



832 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

adopted the hammering process, that is, kept on fighting 
and fighting, it mattered not how many troops he lost. 
Grant had a wagon train that would have reached on a 
single road from Fredericksburg to Richmond, a dis- 
tance of sixty-five miles. He had unlimited resources, 
splendid guns and immense quantities of provisions 
for his troops. 

The first battle of 1864 was fought in the Wilder- 
ness, where Grant was severely repulsed, his loss 
amounting to seventeen thousand men. Lee fell back 
to Spotsylvania Courthouse, fifteen miles from the Wil- 
derness, and there occurred another desperate engage- 
ment. Gradually, Lee was pushed back from Spotsyl- 
vania Courthouse toward Richmond, but he stubbornly 
contested every inch of ground as he retired. At Cold 
Harbor Lee stood like a rock against Grant, who made 
a desperate effort to break the Confederate lines. Lee's 
troops were angry and hungry, for they had had nothing 
but three hard biscuits and one piece of fat pork apiece 
for a day's rations.* When the Federals advanced on 
the hungry Confederates they met with a destructive 
fire, which in ten minutes caused 12,737 of the Union 
soldiers to fall, either killed or wounded. 

* It is said that one poor fellow had his cracker shot out of his 
hand before he could eat it, at which he said, " The next time I'll put 
my cracker in a safe place down by the breastworks where it won't 
get wounded." 



KOBEET E. LEE. 



333 



Grant now determined to cross the James River and 
to attack Petersburg. Then it was that Lee had to re- 
tire into Petersburg and Richmond and entrench him- 
self. Here he remained throughout the hard winter of 




THE McLEAN HOUSE. 



1864-1865, during which time his troops suffered ter- 
ribly, and often his soldiers had nothing to eat but 
parched corn. Confederate money was worthless. 
Flour was valued at from two to three hundred dollars 
a barrel, corn forty dollars a barrel, sugar ten dollars 
per pound, and calico thirty dollars per yard. 

Lee tried to maintain his lines which stretched over 
a distance of forty miles, but on account of star- 
vation and sickness his army grew smaller and 
smaller, and at last, in April, 1865, he was forced to 



334 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 

abandon Petersburg and Richmond. He wished to go 
South and unite with General Johnston in North Caro- 
Hna, but, on reaching Amelia Courthouse, he found 
Grant in front of him; so he turned westward hoping 
to reach Lynchburg, but at Appomattox Courthouse 
he again found that Grant had blocked his way. 
Thereupon he sent a note to Grant requesting an inter- 
view with reference to the surrender of the army. 
They met at the house of Mr. Wilmer McLean at Ap- 
pomattox Courthouse at one o'clock on the ninth of 
April, 1865. 

It was a sad day for Lee and it was undoubtedly the 
greatest struggle of his life to meet Grant to arrange 
the terms. Since the soldiers were willing to lay down 
their lives rather than surrender, it took greater courage 
to submit than to die on the battlefield. Lee felt, 
however, that it was useless to waste human life in a 
vain effort, and, as in all other things, he had followed 
the call of duty, so now, realizing that the overthrow 
of the Confederacy was inevitable, he believed that the 
true and proper course was to surrender his army. 

When Lee and Grant met at Appomattox, there was 
a great contrast between the two men. Lee was fifty- 
eight years of age, with gray hair and beard, while 
Grant was only forty-three, in the very prime of life. 
Lee conducted himself with great dignity. He and 



ROBERT E. LEE. 335 

Grant had met once before, both having fought in the 
Mexican War. 

As quickly as possible the terms of surrender were 
arranged. The Confederate soldiers were allowed to 
return home, with the understanding that they were 
not again to bear arms against the United States. 
Grant allowed each soldier to carry home a horse or a 
mule, if he claimed it was his own property. On learn- 
ing from Lee that the Southern soldiers had been liv- 
ing for the last few days on parched corn, Grant im- 
mediately ordered Lee to be furnished with rations for 
twenty-five thousand men. Grant was very courteous 
in his conduct to Lee. He did not take Lee's sword, 
and he afterwards recommended to the United States 
government that Lee should be pardoned. General 
Lee always said: '^No man could have behaved 
better than General Grant did under the circum- 
stances.'' 

When Lee rode from Appomattox Courthouse he 
was met by his soldiers anxiously awaiting the news of 
his interview with Grant. On being told that the war 
was over, and that their beloved Confederacy was at an 
end, many a brave and hardy soldier broke down and 
sobbed like a child. 

They pressed around him, eager to touch his per- 
son or his horse. He turned to his men and said; 



836 



MAKEKS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



^'Men, we have fought through the war together; 
I have done my best for you; my heart is too full 
to say more." The next day he issued a farewell 
address to the Army of Northern Virginia and closed 
it with these words: ''By the terms of agreement, 
officers and men can return to their homes and remain 
tliere until exchanged. You will take with you the 
satisfaction that proceeds from the consciousness of 

duty well per- 
formed, and I 
earnestly pray 
that a merciful 
God will extend 
to you his bless- 
ing and protec- 
tion. With an 
unceasing ad- 
miration of your constancy and devotion to your 
country, and the grateful remembrance of your kind 
and generous consideration of myself, I bid you an 
affectionate farewell.'' 

Lee now retired to private life, but was soon after- 
ward made president of Washington College at Lexing- 
ton, Virginia, now Washington and Lee University. 
For five years he served the institution faithfully; and, 
though offered many positions which would have 




LEE S STUDY. 



KOBEKT E. LEE. 



337 



paid him large sums of money, he refused them all. 

He died October the twelfth, 1870. During his last 
illness his thoughts turned to the battlefield and in 
death's delirium he was heard to say, '^Tell Hill he 
must come up." He was buried in the chapel of Wash- 
ington and Lee Uni- 
versity. Lee was con- 
scientious and faithful, 
and '^duty'' was his 
watchword. His vir- 
tues will live forever, 
and his character will 
be imitated by genera- 
tions yet unborn. 

At Washington and 
Lee University a beau- 
tiful recumbent statue 
has been erected to 
Lee's memory, and at 
Richmond stands a 
magnificent monument 
which represents Lee 

on his war horse, '^ Traveler.'^ When the cornerstone 
of the Lee Monument in Richmond was laid, a beautiful 
ode written by James Barron Hope was read. The 

closing stanzas are: 
32 




THE LEE STATUE AT RICHMOND. 



338 MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY, 

" Our past is full of glories, 

It is a shut-in sea. 
The pillars overlooking it 

Are Washington and Lee, 
And a future spreads before us. 

Not unworthy of the free. 

" And here and now, my countrymen. 

Upon this sacred sod, 
Let us feel : It w^as ' Our Father ' 

"Who above us held the rod, 
And from hills to sea. 

Like Robert Lee, 
Bow reverently to God." 

Review Questions. 

Tell of the early life of Lee. What kind of student was 
Lee at West Point? Tell of his service in Mexico. What did 
Scott say of him ? Tell what positions he held in the service 
of the United States. Why did Lee resign from the United 
States Army ? Tell of his reception before the Virginia con- 
vention. What was the result of his campaign in West Vir- 
ginia? Outline the campaign of 1863. Give a summary of 
the campaign of 1863. Tell of the struggle between Lee and 
Grant. Tell of Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Tell of 
Lee's farewell to his army. How did Lee spend the last days 
of his life ? Quote from Hope's ode on Lee. 

Geograpliy Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Westmoreland county, Fredericks- 
burg, Petersburg, Richmond, Spotsylvania Courthouse, Ap. 
pomattax Courthouse, Amelia Courthouse, Lynchburg. Maps 
of Maryland and Pennsylvania. — Find Sharpsburg (Md.) 
and Gettysburg (Pa.). 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
WILLIAM HENRY RUFFNER. 

1824 . 

The War between the States left Virginia in ruin. 
Her homes were desolate, for there were few families 
that had not lost one or more of their members in the 
terrible struggle. All the energies of our people having 
been bent upon their great fight for liberty, the farms had 
been neglected, and many of the best plantations were 
in a poor state of cultivation. Labor was hard to secure 

because of the Freemen's Bureau established by Con- 
gress, which so demoralized the negroes that they would 
not work. Moreover, the poor Confederate soldier, when 
he returned from Appomattox, had no money with which 
to employ laborers. The task that lay before the Vir- 
ginians looked hopeless, but we are proud of our people, 
because out of chaos they have brought order, and out 
of ruin they have produced wealth. 

At once the planters began as rapidly as possible to 
improve their farms, while many of the younger men 
went to the towns and found work there in the manu- 



340 



MAKEES OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



facturing enterprises which were being estabhshed. 
Richmond had only 37,000 people in 1860, but because 
of its increase of manufacturing enterprises it had a 




A DESERTED PLANTATION AFTER THE WAR. 



population of 51,000 in 1870, and other towns were 
growing in like proportion. 

For the first five years after the war our development 
was somewhat held back by the efforts of the Congress 
of the United States to take the government of the state 
out of the hands of the native Virginians and to put it 
in the hands of negroes and Northern incomers (the 
''Carpet Baggers'^) and some few native whites called 
''Scallawags." 



WILLIAM HENRY RUFFNER. 841 

Under the acts of Congress (1867) Virginia was put 
under military rule, and General Schofield was put in 
charge of the military district. He called a constitu- 
tional convention which met in Richmond in 1867, 
composed of one hundred and five members, of whom 
twenty-four were negroes, fourteen ^'Scallawags,'' and 
thirty ''Carpet Baggers." This convention drew up a 
constitution with the expressed purpose of taking the 
government away from those Virginians who had fought 
for their state. By its provisions no man should vote 
who had previous to the war held office of any kind, and 
who had afterwards fought for or aided the Confederacy. 
This is known as the ''disfranchising clause.'' But the 
convention went further, and declared that every man 
who should be elected to office must take an oath that 
he had never helped the Confederacy in any way. This 
is known as the "iron-clad'' oath, and because of it 
ninety-nine out of every hundred native white Vir- 
ginians could not have held office. 

When the constitution was submitted to the people of 
Virginia for ratification. General Grant, then President 
of the United States, kindly set aside the " disfranchising 
clause" and the "iron-clad" oath to be voted on sepa- 
rately. The best element of Virginia, aided by the more 
honorable Northerners who had come to Virginia, 
succeeded in defeating these two clauses, while the rest 



342 



MAKERS OF VIRGINTA HISTORY. 



of the constitution was ratified (1869), and the following 
year Virginia was readmitted as a state in the Union. 
At once the government of Virginia passed into the hands 




STRIPPING THE TOBACCO LEAF, AN INDUSTRIAL SCENE IN VIRGINIA 

TO-DAY. 



of the whites, and since that time our state has rapidly 
progressed.* 

With the two objectionable clauses removed the 

* Virginia came out of the war with a large debt, but after years 
of controversy the matter was settled during the administration of 
Governor McKinney, and the credit of our State is now good and 
there is a large surplus in the state treasury. At present the crying 
need of the country districts is good public highways, and influential 
men are earnestly working that the roads may be improved. 



WILLIAM HENRY RUFFNER. 343 

constitution of 1867 was not such a bad instrument of 
government, and it remained in force in our state till 
1902, when Virginia held another constitutional con- 
vention, of which the Hon. John Goode was president. 
Our last convention modified somewhat the form of 
government, so that its burdens might be more equally- 
distributed among all classes of people. 

The constitution of 1867 provided for the establish- 
ment of a public school system, which was put into opera- 
tion by Dr. William Henry Ruffner as the first Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction. 

Dr. Ruffner was born at Lexington, Va., in 1824. He 
was educated at Washington College, now Washington 
and Lee University, from which institution he was 
graduated with the Master of Arts degree. He con- 
tinued his studies at the Union Theological Seminary, 
at Hampden-Sidney and under Dr. W. H. McGuffey at 
the University of Virginia, after which he studied 
theology at Princeton and entered the Presbyterian 
ministry. For two years he was chaplain at the Univer- 
sity of Virginia, and afterwards pastor of the Seventh 
Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, which position he 
resigned on account of ill health. He returned to 
Virginia in 1853 and resorted to farming for his 
health. 

In 1870 he was elected by the legislature Superintend- 



su 



MAKERS OF VIRGINIA HISTORY. 



ent of Public Instruction over fifteen applicants.* At 
this time, Virginia had no public schools open to all the 
children of the state, though since 1808, by the estab- 
Hshment of the Literary Fund of Virginia, some pro- 
visions had been made for 
the education of the poor. 
In 1830, there were about 
3,000 common schools to 
which the poor children were 
sent. In 1833 seventeen 
thousand children were be- 
ing educated by the state 
at an expense of forty-two 
thousand dollars, and this 
attendance increased, so that 
in 1860, there were thirty- 
one thousand children being 
educated at the expense of the state. Yet there was a 
great deal of ignorance, for many persons were unwill- 
ing to send their children to school at the expense of 
the state, because they would be regarded as paupers. 

On his election, Dr. Ruffner at once applied himself 
to the organization of the public school system for all 
classes of people, and the first law enacted by the legis- 

* His election to this responsible position was probably due to the 
recommendation of General Robert E. Lee and the support of Major 
W. A. Anderson. 




DR. WILLIAM H. RUFFNER. 



WILLIAM HENRY RUFFNER. 845 

lature for the management of the free schools was the 
work of his hand. Before offering the bill to the legis- 
lature he had submitted it for criticism to some of the 
greatest educators of the North and South, and all 
agreed that his plan was an excellent one. Dr. Ruffner 
was also largely responsible for the splendid plan on 
which the Virginia Polytechnic Institute at Blackburg 
is conducted. 

During his administration Dr. Ruffner visited every 
county in the state except six, lecturing at various places 
and holding teachers' institutes. After twelve years 
of service he was removed from office by a change in the 
politics of the state. 

When the State Normal School at Farmville was 
established for the education of young women to teach 
in the public schools of Virginia Dr. Ruffner was 
elected to the presidency of that institution, and during 
his three years of service there the training of teachers 
was so emphasized that the school at Farmville has 
become a great factor in the educational forces of Vir- 
ginia. 

Since that time Dr. Ruffner has been actively interested 
in the study of minerals, and in writing a history of Wash- 
ington and Lee University. He now resides at Lexing- 
ton, Va. He is a man of vigorous intellect and determined 
energy, and as Superintendent of Public Instruction he 



846 MAKEES OF VIKGINIA HISTORY. 

was the right man in the right place. With a less firm 
and vigorous hand to organize the public school system 
of Virginia its success could not have been so great. 
During his term of office the number of children in the 
pubhc schools increased from 59,000 (1870) to 257,000 
(1882), the expenditure for school purposes from $500,- 
000 to $1,500,000. The impetus thus given to pubhc 
school education by the hand of Dr. Ruffner has con- 
tinued, and in 1903 there were in Virginia 375,000 
pupils in the public schools at a cost to the state of 
$2,100,000. There are now 8,965 pubhc schools with 
9,044 teachers.* 

Ignorance is fast disappearing from Virginia. About 
1840 not more than seventy-five per cent, of the whites 
over twelve years of age could read and write, but to-day 
the per cent, has increased to about ninety-two, or over 
nine-tenths of the total white population. Of course 
there were a few negroes who could read and write before 
the war between the states; but by 1900 sixty-seven 
per cent, of the negro population had received some 
primary instruction. 

* The Public School system is now under the management of a 
Board of Education, composed of eight members, of whom the Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction is ex-officio president. There are 
now one hundred and seventeen superintendents of schools in the 
counties and cities, who have a general oversight of the schools. In 
each county and city there is a school board of citizens who elect the 
teachers and look after the establishment and maintenance of the 
schools. 



WILLIAM HENRY RUFFNER. 347 

The interest displayed by Dr. Ruffner, our first Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction, in the education of the 
masses has been widely felt, and now the leading citizens 
of our state are advocating universal education. Our 
state officials, and the leading educators of the schools, 
colleges and universities, are all eager to lend a helping 
hand to the primary schools where the boys and girls 
may be instructed so that they may be better prepared 
for service. It is to be hoped that in these schools there 
will always be the spirit of patriotism. May this little 
book create in the young people of our Commonwealth 
a desire to imitate our patriots, whose lives so forcibly 
teach us love for humanity, for our country, and for our 

God. 

Keview Questions. 

What was the condition of the Virginians at the close of 
the war? What did the young Virg-inians do? Tell of the 
constitutional convention of 1867. Explain the disfranchising 
clause and the ironclad oath. When was the public school 
system established ? Give an account of the life of Dr. Ruff- 
ner. Tell of his influence on the schools. How did the 
attendance in the schools increase ? Tell about the cost of the 
schools. How are our schools now managed? What spirit 
should we have in our schools ? 

Geography Study. 

Map of Virginia. — Find Lexington and Hampden-Sidney. 
How many counties has Virginia ? 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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